Salt wars
(E-mail: Norbert.lameire{at}ugent.be)
Four papers [1–4] that appeared in the July issue discussed the varied roles of dietary salt intake on sex and human reproduction as well as the benefits of salt reduction in patients with end-stage renal disease and people in the general population. The latter topic was the subject of a pro-con debate.
Because all four of these contributions were ready for publication at the same time, we thought it appropriate to include them in the same issue. However, the fact that these papers were linked to each another in the same edition of the Journal has created some confusion among our readers. The invited editorial by Drs Shaldon and Vienken, the spontaneous editorial comment by Drs Moinier and Drueke and the pro-con debate by Drs McCarron, Mimran and du Cailar were all sent out for external review separately and independently of each other. The impression that they might have been linked in any way is thus incorrect.
The ‘salt war’, which is specifically related to the issue of salt restriction in the general population, has also been the subject of an editorial (volume 69, p. 1707, 2006) and correspondence (volume 71, p. 83, 2007) in our esteemed sister journal Kidney International (KI). In this editorial and the subsequent correspondence, the role of the salt industry, mainly the Salt Institute, was discussed. We recommend that interested readers of NDT read these KI papers to better understand the ‘political’ and ‘scientific’ background of this ‘salt war’. We also draw the attention of our readers to the fact that some authors of the NDT papers were either supported by or are consultants of companies involved in the salt industry as documented in their disclosures.
Since it is the policy of NDT to present objective information as much as possible in the broad field of nephrology, we believe that NDT should continue to publish controversial topics. We trust that our readership is mature enough to distinguish what some may call ‘junk’ from ‘real’ science.
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- Shaldon S, Vienken J. The long forgotten salt factor and the benefits of using a 5-g-salt-restricted diet in all ESRD patients. Nephrol Dial Transplant (2008) 23:2118–2120.
[Free Full Text] - McCarron DA. Dietary sodium and cardiovascular and renal disease risk factors: dark horse or phantom entry? Nephrol Dial Transplant (2008) 23:2133–2137.
[Free Full Text] - Mimran A, du Cailar G. Dietary sodium: the dark horse amongst cardiovascular and renal risk factors. Nephrol Dial Transplant (2008) 23:2138–2141.
[Free Full Text] - Moinier BM, Drüeke TB. Aphrodite, sex and salt—from butterfly to man. Nephrol Dial Transplant (2008) 23:2154–2161.
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