Scientists are to test the hypothesis that eating less salt can help people with asthma control their symptoms. Recent studies have suggested people with asthma who eat a lot of salt can benefit from cutting their consumption. A University of Nottingham team plans to recruit 220 volunteers with mild to moderate asthma to try to come up with a definitive answer. Half of the 5.2 million in the UK with asthma have symptoms so severe that they have a huge impact on their lives. Drug-free alternative treatments have become increasingly popular for all sorts of medical conditions. And modifying diet can be a relatively easy way of treating a condition. The Nottingham research will investigate the practicality of continuing on a reduced salt diet, and assess its impact on the everyday lives of people with asthma. All the volunteers will initially be given a reduced salt diet. Some will then remain on it, while the others will move onto a diet containing the UK national average amount of salt.
