High sodium intake may increase risk of multiple sclerosis

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High intake of salt may be a novel risk factor in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, suggests new research.

To prove this the researchers fed a high salt diet or a control diet to genetically different groups of mice. They found that mice who ingested too much sodium had more severe forms of experimentally-induced Multiple Sclerosis. While the effect seemed to depend on both genetics and gender, the findings could add salt to the other factors that have been proposed as contributors to the disease, such as environmental toxins and genes.

"We hope to provide a comprehensive understanding of how and why environmental factors interact with individuals' unique genetic make up to influence autoimmune diseases such as MS," said one of the researchers Dimitry Krementsov from University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, US.

"As is the case with other things, you need to get enough salt so your body functions properly, but not too much or things start to go haywire," said Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal.

By Lizitha