To summarize scientific knowledge, the working group brought together a group of experts to review and report on the full scope of issues. Recommendations will include suggestions for future research. Speakers invited to the workshop and public attendees discussed the state of research knowledge and stressed the difficulties of diet and salt studies resulting mainly from the complexities of measuring nutrient intake and correlations among nutrients. Older people who are overweight may receive greater benefit from sodium reduction. Persons with high risk for hypertension exhibit better responses to sodium reduction.
Hypertensives are more salt-responsive than are normotensives.
Sodium reduction may be more beneficial in certain genotypes. Minerals in addition to sodium affect blood pressure. Studies of single nutrients may not be relevant because foods contain multiple nutrients. Studies reporting the adverse effects of a very low sodium diet have not been replicated or contain unanswered methodological problems. The ASH Specialists Program was begun in 1998 and is the first such program in the field of hypertension.