Global cardiovascular diseases burden attributable to high sodium intake from 1990 to 2019

This study analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease study 2019 to assess the global and regional burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) attributed to high sodium intake (HSI) from 1990 to 2019. Methods included calculating numbers and age-standardized rates of mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), stratified by location, sex, and socio-demographic Index (SDI), and evaluating associations with factors like universal health coverage (UHC) via regression. Central results show that in 2019, HSI-attributable CVD caused 1.72 million deaths and 40.54 million DALYs, increases of 41.08% and 33.06% from 1990, respectively. Conversely, the corresponding mortality and DALYs rates dropped by 35.1% and 35.2%. The burden was highest in high-middle and middle SDI quintiles, with ischemic heart disease as the leading cause. UHC was associated with lower DALYs rates. Limitations include reliance on computed data for many countries and indirect assessment of sodium's effect. The implications are that while rates have declined, the rising absolute burden remains a major public health challenge, and improving UHC may help reduce it.