Press releases Monday 23 November to Friday 27 November 2009

Please remember to credit the BMJas source when publicising an article and to tell your readers that they can read its full text on the journal's website (http://www.bmj.com).

(1) High salt intake directly linked to stroke and cardiovascular disease
(2) Senior doctors launch global movement to tackle climate change

(1) High salt intake directly linked to stroke and cardiovascular disease
(Research: Salt intake, stroke, and cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of prospective studies)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.b4336
(Editorial: The case for population-wide salt reduction gets stronge)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.b4336

High salt intake is associated with significantly greater risk of both stroke and cardiovascular disease, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.

The link between high salt intake and high blood pressure is well established, and it has been suggested that a population-wide reduction in dietary salt intake has the potential to substantially reduce the levels of cardiovascular disease.

The World Health Organization recommended level of salt consumption is 5 g (about one teaspoon) per day at the population level, yet dietary salt intake in most Western countries is close to 10g per day (and much higher in many Eastern European countries).

Collaborative research conducted by Professor Pasquale Strazzullo at the University of Naples, Italy and Professor Francesco Cappuccio at the University of Warwick, UK analysed the results of 13 published studies involving over 170,000 people that directly assessed the relationship between levels of habitual salt intake and rates of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Differences in study design and quality were taken into account to minimise bias.

Their analysis shows unequivocally that a difference of 5 g a day in habitual salt intake is associated with a 23% difference in the rate of stroke and a 17% difference in the rate of total cardiovascular disease.

Based on these results, the authors estimate that reducing daily salt intake by 5 g at the population level could avert one and a quarter million deaths from stroke and almost three million deaths from cardiovascular disease each year. Furthermore, because of imprecision in measurement of salt intake, these effect sizes are likely to be underestimated, say the authors.

These results support the role of a substantial population reduction in salt intake for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, they conclude.

This study is a useful and welcome addition to the medical literature, and strengthens the case for population-wide salt reduction, says Professor Lawrence Appel from Johns Hopkins University, in an accompanying editorial.

Contacts:
Research: Pasquale Strazzullo, Professor of Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, "Federico II" ESH Excellence Centre of Hypertension, University of Naples Medical School, Naples, Italy
Email: strazzul@unina.it

Editorial: Lawrence Appel, Professor of Medicine (via Stephanie Desmon, Senior Media Relations Representative), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Email: sdesmon1@jhmi.edu

(2) Senior doctors launch global movement to tackle climate change

Senior doctors from across the globe have come together to form the International Climate and Health Council. Their aim is to mobilise health professionals across the world to help tackle the health effects of climate change.

The Council will be officially launched on Wednesday 25 November 2009 to coincide with a series of papers being published by The Lancet on the public health impact of strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Founding members include Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians, Sir Muir Gray, Director of the Campaign for Greener Health Care, Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of Council at the British Medical Association, Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor in Chief of the British Medical Journal and Lancet Editor, Dr Richard Horton.

Together with colleagues from Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, they are calling for urgent government-led international action to reduce carbon emissions and promote the universal adoption of low carbon sustainable lifestyles.

Failure to agree radical reductions in emissions spells a global health catastrophe, they say.

"Climate change is already causing major health problems," say Professor Mike Gill and Dr Robin Stott, co-chairs of the UK Climate and Health Council. "This is the first step towards a global network of health professionals which by speaking out has the potential to protect and improve the health of people in both rich and poor worlds."

"The public places trust in health professionals, and will listen to those who play their part in protecting human health from climate change," they add. "This is why health professionals must put their case forcefully now and after Copenhagen. We must give the world’s politicians and policy makers no room for doubt on what action they need to take."

"Politicians may be scared to push for radical reductions in emissions because some of the necessary changes to the way we live won't please voters," says Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor in Chief of the BMJ. "Doctors are under no such constraint. On the contrary we have a responsibility as health professionals to warn people how bad things are likely to get if we don't act now. The good news is that we have a positive message - that what is good for the climate is good for health."

Contacts:

Professor Mike Gill
Tel: +44 (0)7867 538 245 or +44 (0)207 625 4287
Dr Robin Stott
Tel: +44 (0)208 692 4667 or +44 (0)7718 904 737

Also new from BMJ Group this week

TRIP Database joins forces with BMJ Group's clinical community (no embargo)

TRIP, the leading clinical evidence-based search engine with more than 10 million visits per year, has teamed up with doc2doc, BMJ Group's clinical community for doctors worldwide.

Doctors visiting the TRIP site at www.tripdatabase.com can now see the latest clinical discussions taking place on doc2doc.bmj.com, and medical professionals accessing the doctor-only forums on doc2doc can instantly search TRIP database.

Jon Brassey, a co-director at the TRIP Database, said: "One of the main aims of the BMJ Group's clinical community is to get answers to clinical questions from a trusted community of clinicians. The synergy between TRIP and doc2doc was obvious and we were delighted with how the concept was embraced by doc2doc. Now, if a clinician is unable to find their answer on the TRIP Database, they can easily link to a new TRIP forum area on doc2doc and obtain help from the doc2doc community."

doc2doc editor David Payne said: "doc2doc launched a year ago and now has more than 15,000 members from across the globe. The partnership with TRIP should help busy doctors find answers to clinical questions via the TRIP database, alongside links to other BMJ Group products."

Contacts:

Jon Brassey, Co-Director, TRIP Database
Email: jon.brassey@tripdatabase.com

David Payne, Editor, doc2doc
Email: dpayne@bmj.com

FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS

For more information please contact:

Emma Dickinson
Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 6529
Email: edickinson@bma.org.uk

Press Office telephone : 020 7383 6254 (Weekdays : 0900hrs - 1800hrs)
British Medical Association
BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP

and from:

the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (http://www.eurekalert.org)
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