Eating something salty has been seen as a remedy to treat light-headedness, but if the findings of latest study are to be believed, higher sodium intake should not be used as a treatment for light-headedness. The latest findings challenge the current guidelines for sodium consumption. The study reported in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.
Light-headedness while standing is also known as postural light-headedness. You may feel slightly giddy and find difficult to stand in one position, the condition result from gravitational drop in blood pressure and is common among adults. For the longest time, greater sodium intake has been viewed as an intervention for preventing light-headedness when moving from seated to standing positions.
Challenging this recommendation, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre (BIDMC) revealed that higher sodium intake, actually increases dizziness.
"Our study has clinical and research implications," said Stephen Juraschek, researcher from BIDMC in Boston.
"Our results serve to caution health practitioners against recommending increased sodium intake as a universal treatment for light-headedness. Additionally, our results demonstrate the need for additional research to understand the role of sodium, and more broadly of diet, on light-headedness," Juraschek said.
Scientists examined the data retrieved from the completed DASH-Sodium trial, it was a randomised crossover study that looked at the effects of three different sodium levels (1500, 2300, and 3300 mg/d) on participants' blood pressure for four weeks.
The findings revealed that lower sodium led to decrease in blood pressure; however, concerns about lower level of sodium causing dizziness may not be scientifically correct.
Scientists also questioned recommendations to use sodium to treat light-headedness; doing so could have negative effects on cardiovascular health.
"Health practitioners initiating sodium interventions for orthostatic symptoms now have some evidence that sodium might actually worsen symptoms," Juraschek said.
"Clinicians should check on symptoms after initiation and even question the utility of this approach. More importantly, research is needed to understand the effects of sodium on physical function, particularly in older adults."
(With inputs IANS)