Does lowering salt shorten life span?

Q. About 50 years ago, we were told to cut way down on salt. My brother Elmer always ate a lot of salt anyway and was always more healthy than I was. Unfortunately, he was killed in an automobile collision when he was 85. I am now 86. When I stopped restricting salt, my health improved. If salt causes some people problems, they should avoid it. It doesn’t make sense for the rest of us to deprive ourselves.

A. It has been an article of faith for decades that everyone should reduce salt intake, but the data don’t show that limiting sodium consumption makes a difference for otherwise healthy people. The latest research in the Journal of the American Medical Association (May 4, 2011) reported that lower salt intake was not associated with lower blood pressure. The people who consumed the least salt had the greatest risk of death from cardiovascular complications.

As paradoxical as this seems, it is consistent with previous research. A national nutrition survey (Journal of General Internal Medicine, September 2008) found that low sodium intake was linked to higher cardiovascular mortality. A recent study of people with type 1 diabetes found that those with the lowest sodium intake were most likely to die during its 10-year duration (Diabetes Care, April 2011).

Q. I took Ambien CR for insomnia for years, with no problems. My insurance company required a switch to generic zolpidem. Within hours of taking it, I developed terrible heartburn and stomach cramping. It was so bad, it felt like acid had been poured down my throat.

During the next week, I developed bloating, vomiting and diarrhea. After reading on your website about other people having digestive trouble with zolpidem, I stopped taking it. Within a day, I recovered completely. What can I do to get a decent night’s sleep?

A. Many visitors to our website have complained about generic Ambien (zolpidem). Even the brand name may be associated with side effects such as heartburn, dizziness, headache, diarrhea and dry mouth. Hallucinations and amnesia also have been reported.

We are sending you our Guide to Getting a Good Night’s Sleep with discussions of several other sleeping pills and many nondrug approaches. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (64 cents), self- addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. I-70, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from our website: www.peoplespharmacy.com.

Q. My husband was hospitalized for acute kidney transplant rejection. The doctor was very concerned when told that he had switched a few months earlier to generic tacrolimus. He had been on Prograf for years, with no rejection problems. The doctor said they had other patients who were treated for rejection after switching to the generic. Unfortunately, my husband’s transplant couldn’t be saved. He is currently on dialysis, waiting for another kidney transplant.

A. How tragic! Yours is the second story we have received about a failed transplant associated with generic tacrolimus.

2011 King Features Syndicate, Inc.