The Impact of Excessive Dietary Sodium on Brain Health

Sporadic cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is not only the most common subtype of vascular dementia, in recent multi-center study showed that sporadic CSVD harbors in a third of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in 9 Asian regions. The CSVD increases the severity of cognitive impairment in these patients and has an etiological contribution to the development of AD. Studies demonstrated that CSVD is more prevalent in Chinese than in Australians and this association was independent of traditional vascular risk factors (e.g. hypertension). Other factors such as lifestyle, environmental or genetic factors may explain this difference. Although hypertension is an important cause for CSVD, it only accounts for a small proportion of the variance in CSVD. Irrespective of the cause, it is currently believed that endothelial dysfunction of CSVD is the key pathophysiological mechanism of CSVD. Having an effective treatment of CSVD will have an enormous impact on the prevention of dementia. Excessive dietary sodium is an established risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including stroke. It is traditionally linked to its effects in raising blood pressure. The Department of Health advocated reducing salt intake for the prevention of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke. However, recent epidemiological studies suggest that it may have a direct effect on cardiovascular diseases independent of blood pressure. A recent animal study showed that excessive dietary sodium-induced cerebral endothelial dysfunction, resulting in cognitive impairment. Interestingly, endothelial dysfunction was related to an adaptive immune response in the gut. A clinical study conducted in the United Kingdom suggested excessive dietary sodium intake may promote CSVD A clinical study conducted in the United Kingdom suggested excessive dietary sodium intake may promote CSVD by increasing WMH volume in the brain, independent of its effects on blood pressure. Notably, a few animal studies sh