High sodium diets are frequently pegged as the culprit for people who have high blood pressure. But does excess salt cause other problems as well?

In studies from 3 different universities, researchers set out to see if there was any relationship between salty, processed diets and the occurrence of autoimmune diseases like arthritis, but what set them on the path to begin with was a surprise finding.

In a study out of Yale School of Medicine looking at people with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, researchers stumbled upon the finding that people who frequented fast food restaurants and ate a lot of processed foods had higher rates of autoimmune diseases.

This got them looking at diet as a key factor in not only risk, but cause-effect relationships with inflammatory foods.

Studies out of the Broad Institute and Harvard worked on similar research, finding that high amounts of salt may overstimulate receptors that are responsible for regulating how the immune system functions.

The studies showed that overloading on salty, processed foods not only caused multiple sclerosis in mice, but also seemed to interfere with genes’ abilities to manage immune response.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks some part or system of the body. Examples are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and lupus. Instead of just fighting foreign invaders and disease-causing microorganisms, the immune system perceives the body’s own tissues as a threat and attacks them.

Depending upon the disease, tissues attacked can be muscles, bone, connective tissue, organs, nerves or a combination of any of those. Typically, once developed, there is no cure for the disease, and only symptom management has been available.

The discoveries with how salt affects the genetic response to immunity offer new areas of research in not only prevention, but also possibly cures.

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