Too much salt may trigger autoimmune diseases - studies

I really don't think I had a high sodium diet. Rarely salt my food and neither does my family as a rule, most of whom have autoimmune diseases...

My Wife puts salt on salt! it seems. Genetically her family has low blood pressure and they all salt like crazy. Not one autoimmune disease to be found. This study is spurious at best.

How high is high? doesn't say so in the article..q

Well, its a total extreme long shot but salt (even regular table salt) can cause or effect the misfolding of proteins. Although I cannot really say if consuming to much salt in the food we eat would directly effect sodium levels within cells or surrounding unfolded proteins - but it could perhaps... and since the body flags these misfolded proteins for destruction (kind of a hallmark for autoimmune disease) and a genetic predisposition or alteration to this process could cause an abnormal response in some individuals and not others.

I guess it's exactly what Freddy said above. "I suppose you can point to anything under the sun contributing to this, just like half of the things that supposedly help us hurt us depending on who you cite."

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Personally, I would say salt would not be the direct cause -but perhaps more of another possible environmental contributor to the process. Another item to add to the ever growing list over the last while.

I will say though, that there sure if some very common chemistry going on with a few of these possible environmental contributors....

Ok salt, My stepfather quit smoking 25 years ago and because of the smoking he was not able to taste much. He is 74 now and if you saw how much salt he pours on his food  he would be one to have this disease. But that's not the case. I cringe when I see him salt his eggs and potatoes when they stay over on the occasional weekend. He has been pouring salt on his food for over 25 years. My Mom confirmed this after I saw how much he uses at breakfast alone.

 

Post Edited (twiggs) : 3/7/2013 8:47:02 AM (GMT-7)

boy DB, you really don't want to be part of this forum, do you ?

sheesh !

DBwithUC said...

baconeggsyum said...
My Wife puts salt on salt! it seems. Genetically her family has low blood pressure and they all salt like crazy. Not one autoimmune disease to be found. This study is spurious at best.

This is a stupid remark.

The study is "correlational" at best. It would take controlled experiments to prove causality, but also to refute causality, or to prove the finding was indeed spurious.

You cannot just declare it spurious. Are you that ignorant of science? Or just hostile to since in general?

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I also do not understand why everybody is so all-or-none. Why do people think that one or a few dis-confirming cases refute the evidence of a large number of carefully collected confirming cases.

When someone finds an 80% association (correlation) of two things, they are at the same time finding that 20% of the time there is no connection. Get it? I am always amazed when folks presented with information that is true on average, or something that is associated a large percent of the time, immediately rejects it because they know of at least one case where the association does not exist.

As far as heavy salt eating families that never get IBD, well please remember that there is a mix of genetic susceptibility, epigenetic settings, environmental triggers, and the gut microbiome. Maybe those salt munchers had very low or no genetic susceptability, or had salt-robust microbiomes.

If discussions are always so black/white always/never then insight and understanding will never emerge.

DB, it's because most people are quite stupid. I've learned to accept it and block the really, really stupid people like InSoFla (saw your other thread, lol!)

I love salt.

Darn it.

Another link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-06/salt-may-boost-immune-diseases-through-inflammation.html

What's relevant to us:
"What’s more, autoimmune diseases vary, O’Shea said. Blocking interleukin-17 helps people with psoriasis, while those with inflammatory bowel disease don’t benefit as much. And though the scientists showed that salt worsens disease in mice, the illness was induced by scientists. That may not mean that dietary salt prompts or aggravates spontaneously arising diseases, he said."

That being said, it is good to eat a low salt diet--increased salt consumption has been associated with hypertension.


*can't get the link or quote options to work!