Limited epidemiologic data is available regarding the cardiovascular effects of mercury exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between mercury exposure from fish consumption and cardiovascular disease in a nationally representative sample of Korean adults using the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV 2008~2009). Survey logistic regression models accounting for the complex sampling were used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) adjusted for fish consumption frequency, age, education, individual annual income, household annual income, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), alcohol consumption status, and smoking status. The mean blood mercury level in the population was 5.44 μg/L. Trends toward increased blood mercury levels were seen for increased education level (P=0.0011), BMI (P<0.0001), WC (P<0.0001), and fish (i.e., anchovy) consumption frequency (P=0.0007). The unadjusted OR for hypertension in the highest blood mercury quartile was 1.450 [95% confidential interval (CI): 1.106~1.901] times higher than that of the lowest quartile. The fish consumption-adjusted OR for hypertension in the highest blood mercury quartile was 1.550 (95% CI: 1.131~2.123) times higher than that of the lowest quartile, and the OR for myocardial infarction or angina in the highest blood mercury quartile was 3.334 (95% CI: 1.338~8.308) times higher than that of the lowest quartile. No associations were observed between blood mercury levels and stroke. These findings suggest that mercury in the blood may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension and myocardial infarction or angina in the general Korean population.

Although sea salts are widely available to consumers nowadays, whether its consumption over refined salt has any real health benefits is largely unknown. This study was conducted to compare hypertension-inducing propensity of natural sea salt (SS) to refined salt (RS) in a well-established animal model of hypertension. Five groups of male Dahl salt-sensitive rats were fed rat chow diet supplemented with various amounts of salt for 15 weeks. The groups were: control (CON, n = 10), 4% RS (RS4), 4% SS (SS4), 8% RS (RS8), 8% SS (SS8) (n = 12 for each group). After 15 weeks, both SS4 and SS8 groups had significantly lower systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) compared to RS4 and RS8 rats, respectively. RS8 rats had markedly higher SBP and DBP compared to all other groups. Echocardiography just prior to sacrifice showed abnormalities in RS4, SS8 and RS8 hearts, while CON and SS4 hearts displayed normal measurements. Plasma renin and aldosterone levels of high salt groups were lower than those of CON, and serum electrolytes were similar amongst all groups. Abnormal kidney pathology and high glomerulosclerosis index scores were seen in RS4 and RS8 rats, but SS4 and SS8 kidneys showed relatively normal morphology similar to CON kidneys. Our findings show that consumption of natural sea salt induces less hypertension compared to refined salt in the Dahl salt-sensitive rat.

We investigate dietary intake and lifestyle patterns of atopic children and adolescents (N = 539) by obesity level using a national survey of South Korea. Intakes of calcium, iron, and vitamin C in the underweight group were less than those of other groups. The frequency of drinking milk of the overweight group was higher than that of the normal weight group. Majority of the subjects had not applied nutrition labeling in food choices, had no experience of nutrition education, and were vitamin D deficient. In conclusion, most of the atopic subjects had little knowledge of nutrition and were vitamin D deficient.

Solar salts(SS) are sun‐dried sea salts containing less Na and more minerals like Ca, Mg, and K compared to refined salts(RS) with 99.9% NaCl. The study was conducted to investigate the effects of high levels of solar and refined salts on blood pressure in Dahl salt‐sensitive rats for 15 weeks. Fifty‐eight 13‐week‐old male Dahl rats were assigned to five groups; rat chow (CON), 4% SS(SS4), 4% RS (RS4), 8% SS(SS8), 8%RS (RS8). Blood pressure was measured by the tail cuff method. Body weight and blood pressure were measured weekly. Feed intake was the highest in SS8 and the lowest in CON, but FER and PER was vice versa (p<0.0001). Body weight and gain were the lowest in RS8 followed by SS8 and indifferent between CON and 4% salt groups. In case of systolic blood pressure (SBP), it was higher in order of RS8 (198.7mmHg) >; SS8(174.5mmHg) >; RS4(172.5mmHg)>; SS4(163.7mmHg) >;CON (136.5mmHg) (p<0.001). SBP of RS8 was increased 73 mmHg compared to 9.6 mmHg for CON group at 15 weeks. While diastolic blood pressure (DBP) have shown similar tendency to SBP, but the statistical significance was observed only in CON (92.5mmHg) and RS8(116.1mmHg) groups. In addition, heart and kidney weights of supplemented groups were heavier than those of CON(p<0.001). From the findings, both solar and refined salts raised SBP and DBP, but solar salts did not increase as much as refined salts, showing SS8 was similar BP to RS4 group. It suggests that solar salts, sun‐dried sea salts seem to curb the elevation of blood pressure than refined salts.Grant Funding Source: This research was supported by grants from the Globalization of Korean Foods R & D program, funded by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of Korea