Patterns of Sodium and Potassium Excretion and Blood Pressure in the African Diaspora

Habitual levels of dietary sodium and potassium are correlated with age-related increases in blood pressure (BP) and likely play a role in this phenomenon. Although extensive published evidence exists from randomized trials, relatively few large-scale community surveys with multiple 24-hour urine collections have been reported. We obtained three 24-hour samples on 2,704 individuals from Nigeria, Jamaica and the US to evaluate patterns of intake and within-person relationships to blood pressure. The average (±s.d.) age and weight of participants across all three sites were 39.9±8.6 years and 76.1±21.2 kg, respectively, and 55% of the total participants were females. Sodium excretion increased across the East-West gradient (e.g., 123.9±54.6, 134.1±48.8, 176.6±71.0 (±s.d.) mmol, Nigeria, Jamaica and US, respectively), while potassium was essentially unchanged (e.g., 46.3±22.9, 40.7±16.1, 44.7±16.4 (±s.d.) mmol, respectively). In multivariate analyses both sodium (positively) and potassium (negatively) were strongly correlated with blood pressure (p < 0.001); quantitatively the association was stronger, and more consistent in each site individually, for potassium. Within-population day-to-day variation was also greater for sodium than for potassium. Among each population group a significant correlation was observed between sodium and urine volume, supporting the prior finding of sodium as a determinant of fluid intake in free-living individuals. These data confirm the consistency with the possible role of dietary electrolytes as hypertension risk factors, reinforcing the relevance of potassium in these populations.