Research Paper Title

Association between Cardiovascular Events and Sodium-containing Effervescent, Dispersible, and Soluble Drugs: Nested Case-control Study.

Study Question

Do patients taking sodium-containing formulations of prescription drugs have a higher incidence of cardiovascular events than patients taking those same drugs in formulation that do not contain sodium?

Summary Answer

Patients prescribed sodium-containing effervescent, dispersible, and soluble drugs had an increased risk of incident non-fatal myocardial infarction, incident non-fatal stroke, or vascular death.

What is Known and What This Paper Adds

Numerous observational studies have shown that excess salt is known to be detrimental to cardiovascular health. This study shows that sodium-containing formulations of commonly prescribed drugs are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events in patients who are prescribed them. The increased risk was primarily driven by an increased risk of hypertension and stroke.

Reference

BMJ 2013;347:f6954.