Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 11 Title: Experts remind: Beware of chronic kidney disease caused by high salt and hypertension
Xinhua News Agency reporters Chen Xiyuan and Xu Penghang
11 is the 16th World Kidney Day. Recently, an article claiming that salt additives hurt the kidneys has attracted attention. There is generally no obvious discomfort in the early stages of kidney disease, hence the term "silent killer". Experts said that high salt and hypertension are easy to cause chronic kidney disease, and paying attention to early signals, paying attention to screening, and reasonable diet are the keys to preventing and treating kidney disease.
The internet spread that the salt additive hurts the kidneys, and experts refute the rumors
Recently, an article circulated on the Internet "Old Professor Personal Experience: How Terrible Is salt Additives", saying that the salt at home contains potassium ferrocyanide, which leads to kidney problems, and after switching to table salt that does not contain potassium ferrocyanide, the symptoms disappear.
"First of all, it should be clear that potassium ferrocyanide is a legal food additive." Wu Shaojie, deputy dean of the School of Food Science and Engineering of Jiangsu Ocean University, introduced that according to China's food safety related standards, potassium ferrocyanide and sodium ferrocyanide can be used as anti-caking agents, added to salt and salt substitute products, but there are quantitative regulations.
In a large shopping mall in Beijing, the reporter found 9 kinds of table salts such as sea salt, bamboo salt, and deep well rock salt, 4 of which contain potassium ferrocyanide. On an overseas shopping website, a number of foreign-produced table salts also indicate the addition of sodium ferrocyanide.
Cyanide is a well-known highly toxic substance, more than the word "ferrous", can it be used as a food additive? Wu Shaojie told reporters that cyanide is very easy to form a complex with metal ions with strong stability, so the toxicity of ferrocyanide is very low. "Cyanide encounters ferrous ions, just like the 'devil' is firmly locked, the toxicity is passivated, and it can no longer make waves."
According to the data, the limit for sodium ferrocyanide in the United States is 13 mg per kilogram, and the EU standard for ferrocyanide is 20 mg per kilogram. "China's standards are even stricter than those in Europe and the United States." Shen Lei, chief physician of the Department of Nephrology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, said, "Instead of worrying about salt additives, residents should pay more attention to the excessive intake of salt, which may cause hypertension and chronic kidney disease." ”
Kidney disease is a "silent killer" and it is important to pay attention to early signals
In February 2020, a paper published online in the international medical journal The Lancet showed that as of 2017, there were more than 130 million people with chronic kidney disease in China. Shen Lei introduced that kidney disease is generally insidious, there is no obvious discomfort in the early stage, so it is not easy to detect, known as the "silent killer", and it is necessary to pay attention to some signals that appear in the body.
Signal one: after getting up in the morning, eyelid or facial edema, edema of the lower limbs after activity, can not be relieved after rest; signal two: always waist acid fatigue, poor spirits, unexplained loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting; signal three: deep urine color, increased foam in the urine, and long-term absence, or significant increase in nocturia; signal four: sudden increase in blood pressure, which young people should pay special attention to.
Shen Lei said that regular physical examination can detect kidney abnormalities in time, and people with high blood pressure, diabetes, family history of kidney disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, obesity, gout, long-term use of Chinese herbal medicines and analgesics and other drugs are high-risk groups, and more attention should be paid to screening.
Shen Lei introduced that excessive salt intake is an important factor in the onset of hypertension, and hypertension is closely related to kidney disease. "Ordinary people want to limit their salt intake to normal levels, especially 'invisible salt', such as soy sauce and other spices and many snacks, containing a lot of sodium chloride." She advises that people with kidney disease should pay attention to the content of sodium chloride in the ingredient list and minimize salt intake when buying food.
Chronic kidney disease is not terrible, self-management is key
The theme of this year's World Kidney Day is "Face Kidney Disease Positively and Share a Wonderful Life". Shen Lei said that most patients with chronic kidney disease are in the early stage of the disease, and early intervention and treatment can prevent the disease from entering the irreversible stage, avoid dialysis, and save a lot of economic and medical resources for the society.
"Treating chronic kidney disease requires long-term involvement of both doctors and patients. Patients should not resign themselves to it and do not take it seriously; nor should they rush to the hospital in a hurry and increase or decrease drugs on their own, but increase the burden on the kidneys. Shen Lei suggested that patients with chronic kidney disease should strengthen self-management, conduct proteinuria, renal function or imaging tests every one to three months, and self-measure blood pressure and blood sugar at home, and make records.
Shen Lei said that in addition to controlling blood lipids, uric acid and other indicators through taking drugs, it is more important to maintain a reasonable diet and lifestyle. Hospitals with conditions can open multidisciplinary joint outpatient clinics led by nephrologists, with the participation of dietitians, clinical pharmacists, special nurses, etc., under the guidance of dietitians, as far as possible to achieve a low-protein, low-salt, low-sugar diet, control blood pressure and blood sugar; under the guidance of clinical pharmacists, standardize the use of drugs to prevent adverse consequences.
Source: Xinhua News Agency