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How Does Salt Retention Raise Blood Pressure?

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Posted on Sat, 16 May 2015
Question: How does salt effect blood pressure?
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Answered by Dr. Dr.Albana Sejdini (34 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
More fluids are keeping inside the body...

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

To understand how salt affect blood pressure (bp), you should know how kidneys, heart and arteries work in keep bp within normal range:

1. Kidney filters the excessive water through process of osmosis, where sodium plays a crucial role. If you eat too much salt, that will increase the sodium level in your blood. Thus, the excessive water will be kept inside the body and not filtering out.

The final result is extra blood remaining in the bloodstream which will put extra straining in the blood vessels (arteries) all over the body including:
- kidneys itself
- heart
- brain

The arteries will adopt to this situation by becoming thicker, which will continue raising the bp. In this way, your bp will enter a closed cycle of keeping increasing.
At the end, your heart will get harder to furnish with blood, and if not treated correctly, it will cease working properly.

2. At the end, salt is not the only factor affecting bp. Previous diseases of kidney, heart and blood vessels will also precipitate the bad effects.

Hope it answered to your query! Let me know if you need further information!
Dr.Albana
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Dr.Albana Sejdini

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2006

Answered : 7300 Questions

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How Does Salt Retention Raise Blood Pressure?

Brief Answer: More fluids are keeping inside the body... Detailed Answer: Hi, To understand how salt affect blood pressure (bp), you should know how kidneys, heart and arteries work in keep bp within normal range: 1. Kidney filters the excessive water through process of osmosis, where sodium plays a crucial role. If you eat too much salt, that will increase the sodium level in your blood. Thus, the excessive water will be kept inside the body and not filtering out. The final result is extra blood remaining in the bloodstream which will put extra straining in the blood vessels (arteries) all over the body including: - kidneys itself - heart - brain The arteries will adopt to this situation by becoming thicker, which will continue raising the bp. In this way, your bp will enter a closed cycle of keeping increasing. At the end, your heart will get harder to furnish with blood, and if not treated correctly, it will cease working properly. 2. At the end, salt is not the only factor affecting bp. Previous diseases of kidney, heart and blood vessels will also precipitate the bad effects. Hope it answered to your query! Let me know if you need further information! Dr.Albana