Dietary salt intake tied to risk of atopic dermatitis: Study
USA: A recent study found that dietary salt intake is associated with an increased atopic dermatitis (AD) risk and salt restriction could be offered as a low-cost, safe intervention for AD patients in diverse settings. Additional studies however are required using specific measures of atopic dermatitis in a longitudinal population cohort.
The study findings were presented at the Society for Investigative Dermatology Annual Meeting, held May 18 to 21 in Portland, Oregon.
Diet is a critical environmental factor driving the onset and persistence of atopic dermatitis. Recent studies have shown that most of the body's exchangeable sodium is stored in the skin and that high sodium environments perpetuate and trigger local immune dysregulation. This supports the hypothesis that excessive dietary sodium intake could be linked to atopic dermatitis.
Against the above background, Morgan Ye, the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues aimed to study the association between sodium intake and atopic dermatitis using data from 13,183 children and adults. Data was collected from the 1999-2000, 2001-2002, and 2003-2004 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included validated dietary intake questionnaires and questions about participants' history of dermatitis, eczema, or rash. The National Cancer Institute method was used to estimate normalized values for usual dietary sodium intake were estimated.
Key findings include:
- The average dietary sodium intake was 3.30 grams (standard deviation 1.58), 809 (6%) participants reported current dermatitis at the time of the survey, and 1,518 (12%) participants reported dermatitis in the past year.
- After adjusting for potential confounders including age, sex, ethnicity, and poverty income ratio in logistic regression models, we found that a 1 gram increase in dietary sodium intake was associated with an increased risk of current dermatitis (AOR 1.22), and a marginally significant increase in dermatitis in the past year (AOR 1.15).
"Our findings support for salt restriction as a low-cost, safe intervention for atopic dermatitis that could be offered in diverse settings," wrote the authors. "Additional research is however needed using more specific measures of atopic dermatitis in a longitudinal population cohort."
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