The observational study involved 5,600 men and women over the age of 65 who were free of stroke when they started the study. The participants were followed for four to eight years to record the number and type of strokes that occurred. The people with the lowest amount of potassium in their diet were 1.5 times more likely to have a stroke than those with the highest amount. Low potassium intake was defined as less than 2.4 grams per day, while high intake was more than four grams daily.
The study also looked at people taking diuretics, common medications that reduce the amount of water in the body and can rob potassium from the body. Diuretics are used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, congestive heart failure and kidney disease. Of people taking diuretics, the study found that those with the lowest level of potassium in their blood were 2.5 times more likely to have a stroke than those with the highest level. Study author and neurologist Dr. Deborah Green of the Neuroscience Institute at the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu stressed that the results do not imply that diuretics create an excessive risk of stroke. "The question is whether diuretics would be even more effective with adequate potassium intake," she says.
Moderator Comment: How would you rate the job that retailers do in communicating the health benefits of food and other products?
As a whole, retailers are doing a better job here today than they have in the past. That said, there is huge room for improvement. A wide variety of product categories including food, HBC, Rx, and general merchandise have a roll to play in promoting health.
Retailers need to concentrate on helping consumers do a better job of making the connections between complementary and contraindicated products across the store. [George Anderson - Moderator]