Salt
However, the researchers warn that the recent stalling of salt reduction programmes is endangering the potential health gains, as salt intake remains significantly higher than recommended levels.
Excess salt intake is strongly linked with raised blood pressure and increased risks of cardiovascular disease, as well as kidney disease, gastric cancer and osteoporosis. Raised blood pressure is responsible for half of the burden of ischemic heart disease and more than 60 per cent of strokes.
In 2003 to 2010, the Food Standards Agency, in collaboration with the food industry, established salt reduction targets in over 85 food categories, which involved reformulating processed foods, product labelling and public awareness campaigns. Consequently, average population-level salt intake reduced by 15 per cent in the period 2000 to 2011, with the decline attributed to food companies reformulating their products.
England's salt reduction programme will have led to nearly 200,000 fewer adults developing heart disease and £1.64 billion of healthcare cost savings by 2050, according to research by Queen Mary University of London.
22nd February 2021 12:02 am 19th February 2021 11:55 am
Researchers in the UK have developed a new x-ray imaging scanner that could have strong potential in the improvement of breast cancer operations.
Image: Adobestock
The research team from UCL and Queen Mary University of London, working closely with Barts Health NHS Trust and Nikon, said the new approach will aid surgeons performing breast tumour removal surgery by allowing for 2.5 times better detection of diseased tissue in the margins (edges of extracted tissue) than with standard imaging.
Published in
Scientific Reports, the study involved the use of X-Ray Phase Contrast Imaging (XPCI) to develop a scanner that would provide surgeons with a full 3D image of the extracted tissue lump, known as a wide local excision (WLE).