Last week, high blood pressure was declared as a “neglected disease” that costs the U.S. health system $73 billion a year, states Julie Steenhuysen from Reuters. A major cause of high blood pressure is consuming too much salt, so the U.S. government is “looking for solutions to curb salt intake as a way to head off future heart attacks and strokes that help drain healthcare systems,” reports Steenhuysen.
A recent study revealed that a “government-industry effort could cut Americans’ salt intake by 9.5 percent,” according to Steenhuysen. By decreasing the consumption of salt, there would be fewer deaths due to cardiovascular disease, which in turn would dramatically decrease health costs for the country. Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler says, “The numbers of affected people are huge, so even a small decrease is significant if you have large numbers of people involved.”
Find a doctor near you to discuss ways to lower your blood pressure.
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