The truth is there is no agreement among cardiologists about the initial 'cause' or 'causes' of hypertension although there is general agreement about the life-style changes that need to be encouraged when a patient is found to have raised blood pressure. So, not surprisingly, our two high-powered academic cardiologists agreed with each other quite a lot. It was the differences between them that were important and exciting. I must say that I thought both speakers were brilliant at exposing the scientific problems in a way that a lay audience could appreciate. The heart of his story is that common salt attracts water.
Water is the cheapest ingredient of prepared foods.
So, the higher the salt content of a prepared food, such as the breakfast sausage that we Scots are addicted to, then the higher will be its water content. MacGregor mercilessly decomposed our beloved sausage into a mound of fat, a pile of salt and a jigger of water. The trouble begins once we have eaten the sausage. Our gut avidly absorbs the salt and, to satisfy the salt's need for water, water is absorbed as well. The extra salt and water that is absorbed increases the volume of the blood.