Salt-Induced Chronic Kidney Disease

Nowadays there are people who dispute that salt intake increases blood pressure. These people are clearly wrong and can probably be included into the anti-vaxxers movement. But the real question is: does a higher blood pressure as a result of higher salt intake eventually results in damaged kidneys?

Research indicates that healthy kidneys can disperse of salt quickly, but if the salt intake suddenly increases humans do usually not excrete this salt more rapidly, but they undergo substantial salt retention[1]. This process is done by the kidneys, but this is likely to damage the kidneys in the long term and is exacerbated by the higher blood pressure in the veins in the kidneys.

While, restriction of sodium intake is an important preventive and therapeutic measure in patients with chronic renal diseases or at risk of renal damage, such as hypertensive or diabetic patients, it still doesn't explain if salt itself can result in a chronic kidney disease[2].

We know that people who consume too much salt on a chronic basis cause the kidneys to struggle with electrolyte balance continually. Meanwhile, high blood pressure places vascular stress on the kidneys. In this compromised state, the damage to small blood vessels in the nephrons, the parts of the kidney that filter toxins and wastes from digested food for excretion, decreases normal kidney function. This loss of function, known as chronic kidney disease, may progress little by little for years or decades.

Chronic kidney disease is incurable, so controlling your salt intake throughout life is an important preventive measure. People with chronic kidney disease also have greater risks for potentially fatal heart attacks and strokes.

I would like to propose the term Salt-Induced Related Chronic Kidney Disease for this specific Chronic Kidney Disease.

[1] Kurtz et al: An alternative hypothesis to the widely held view that renal excretion of sodium accounts for resistance to salt-induced hypertension in Kidney International – 2016
[2] Boero et al: Salt intake and kidney disease in Journal of Nephrology - 2002