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Even if the risk of falls usually increases due to normal aging, it may be dangerous to not consider all possible causes. Especially for females, eating too li
by adrian_b 3y ago
Even if the risk of falls usually increases due to normal aging, it may be dangerous to not consider all possible causes.
Especially for females, eating too little salt while also being on high blood pressure medication can lead to a too low concentration of sodium in the blood (hyponatremia), for which some of the main symptoms are balance difficulties and muscular weakness, leading to a high risk of falls.
I had this problem with my mother, for which a couple of falls have been wrongly attributed to old age and this has determined the failure to diagnose the real cause (by not sending her to blood analysis) until it has been too late and much more severe symptoms had developed, seriously endangering her life.
The content of salt in food must be monitored carefully. Both too much and too little are dangerous (recommended daily intake: 4 to 6 grams of salt).
- samatman 3y agoToo much is quite a bit less dangerous than too little. In many cases excess sodium isn't dangerous at all, there are some high blood pressure conditions and kidney issues where you have to be careful there. Most people just urinate it out without any difficulty. The Japanese are among the longest-lived people on the planet, and eat the most salt. There are a lot of confounds there, but it's at least suggestive. The more important takeaway is that too little salt is bad news, even for otherwise healthy/young people.