Does salt affect sleep apnia

[Woody]

I have been bad the last couple of weeks and consumed a lot of salt. Well it
seems it has cough up with me and my blood pressure is up. But not only is
my blood pressure up but my AHI which has been averaging about 2 has been
about 4.5 the last 5 days. Could the salt cause this or is it likely just a coincidence.
On the other I searched for this on the web and found one person who was deficient
in salt who had his apnia improve some when he corrected.

[cnaumann]

The government guidelines on salt consumption keep changing. My personal, non-medical opinion is that as long as you are in good health and getting enough water and other electrolytes (potassium) you can consume any reasonable amount of salt without worry. For a normal person, excess salt should not stay in your body more than a couple of days. Increasing your water and potassium consumption should flush it out pretty quick.

I have never seen excess salt consumption listed as factor for sleep apnea. That does not mean much.

[Julie]

OSA has always been affected by high BP, and salt aggravates that, and AHI (and BP) generally comes down quickly in people with higher BPs once they start therapy.

[Sleeprider]

I have see studies that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a recognized cause of secondary hypertension. I have not seen that correlated the opposite direction; i.e. hypertension causes sleep apnea. Some risk factors are shared in common, but i'm not buying into salt intake causes increased apnea, or even increased hypertension causes apnea until I see something besides an opinion. That may be a testable hypothesis, but it might also be one of those 'what came first' questions.

[Woody]

Thanks for the responces. So it looks like it's just a coincidence after all.

[archangle]

Thanks for the responces. So it looks like it's just a coincidence after all.

It wouldn't surprise me if salt affects apnea with some people, but it sounds like there's not a lot of data about that particular issue.

Try eating a lower level of salt and see if it helps your own apnea. If it helps, or even if you just think it helps, keep it up.

[Julie]

Lowered BP is more than a coincidence when starting Cpap, much more, but that doesn't give you license to gorge on salt.

[tan]

Added amount of sodium can worsen reflux, which in turn can worsen UARS, as I read somewhere

Here is an article on sodium and GERD: http://oldsite.leeuniversity.edu/health ... tburn.aspx

[Sir NoddinOff]

Most people on this planet, with a few notable exceptions, tend to eat too much salt - regarding apnea or otherwise. It's never a bad idea to cut back. Here's what the Mayo Clinic recommends:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-livin ... t-20045479

I for one, have tried to cut my estimated salt intake in half which is not too hard. When you do that it's not a bad idea to double your general potassium intake which for most people in Western Civilization tends to be too low. Here's a great list of potassium rich foods and some basic info:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09355.html

Warning
Having too much or too little potassium in your body can have serious health consequences and needs to be addressed by your doctor immediately. If you have any chronic conditions or illnesses that require a change in the amount of potassium you eat or just have questions about potassium, make an appointment to discuss this with your doctor. As a side note: I do take a three potassium supplement pills a day (10% daily requirement) just to be sure I get enough, which can be hard with our modern processed food diets. As mentioned above, too much potassium is not a good thing, so you need to educate yourself before you change your diet, also consult your doctor if it's anything too radical.