Expert says salt is behind high rates of cardiovascular disease

Many people are forced to buy Plavix to reduce their risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. Now one expert is saying that high levels of salt in the diets of most people may be largely to blame for this condition.

Francesco Cappuccio of the Warwick Medical School said that lowering salt consumption by modest amounts could lead to significant reductions in the number of people who suffer strokes or die from heart disease.

The professor recently conducted a study in which he found that reducing each person's salt consumption by three grams per day could eliminate 120,000 new cases of heart disease each year. This could bring down the number of people who suffer strokes by 66,000 and prevent 99,000 heart attacks each year. Doing so could save $24 billion in annual healthcare costs.

"Prevention implemented through food reformulation and effective voluntary, market intervention or mandatory action throughout the industry is what needs to happen," Cappuccio said. "However, denial and procrastination will be costly in terms of both avoidable illness and expenses."

Implementing the researcher's suggestions could make serious improvements in the number of people who must buy Plavix.