The Importance of Salt in Your Diet

For World Salt Awareness Week, February 29th to March 6th, Dr. R. Balasubramaniam helps us understand the importance of regulating salt in our diet.

The average intake of salt in a day for a person should be 10-14 gms. We ingest much more than that. Why is that not good for health? Let’s find out. 

Why do we need salt?

It helps balance our fluid levels, helps our nerves transmit impulses, and enables our muscles to contract and relax.

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What happens when you ingest too much salt?

It can raise blood pressure, and high blood pressure (hypertension) is a significant risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Too much salt can also affect our brain, heart, kidney, and blood vessels.

What are different ways to reduce salt intake?

• Eat less junk food

• Add salt at the table

• Avoid unprocessed food

• Don’t buy ready to eat foodstuff

• Incorporate more fresh, leafy vegetables and fruits

• Avoid eating out

• Use more spices instead of salt

On World Salt Week, it is crucial to becoming aware of how much salt we take daily and find a way to reduce it. This can help prevent many health problems and complications.

Lasers for the Treatment of Kidney Stones

Kidney stones have always been a major cause for concern. Dr S Senthilkumar, a urologist at Kauvery Hospital, throws light on the advancements in the treatment of kidney stones. 

Lasers to the Rescue

The usage of lasers for treating kidney stones has had a tremendous impact, both in terms of treatment time as well as recovery period. Earlier, patients suffering from painful kidney stones had to undergo an invasive surgery; this surgery would involve them having to spend at least a week in the hospital post-operatively. Even after this, rest for around a month was advised. But now, with the usage of lasers for treatment, the patient arrives at the hospital in the morning and the procedure is performed in the afternoon. The next day the patient can be discharged from the hospital and after resting at home for around 2 days the patient can resume all normal activities.

Even kidney stones that are big in size have been treated successfully with lasers. An endoscopic procedure called RIRS is used to remove the stones from the bottom of the kidney. Powerful lasers like Holmium and Thulium are employed for the process. These lasers powder the stones and the powdered stones are excreted during urination.

Thus, thanks to the advancements in medical technology, what was once considered an elaborate treatment process has now been simplified. As a result, the patient experience too has improved by leaps and bounds.

Watch Dr S Senthilkumar explain the usage of lasers for the treatment of kidney stones here 

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