Does reducing salt intake increase cardiovascular mortality?

Overwhelming evidence shows that reducing salt intake from 9-12 to 5-6  g/d lowers blood pressure, thereby preventing cardiovascular disease. A recent paper claims that lower salt intake is associated with higher cardiovascular mortality despite lower blood pressure. The study is flawed and cannot refute the evidence for the benefits of salt reduction.

Sodium: a wolf in sheep's clothing.

High blood pressure is the main cause of disease-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is virtually absent in populations that consume natural foods low in sodium. In other countries, however, where the individual intake of sodium is at least 10 times greater, the prevalence of arterial hypertension is about 40%.

Potassium softens vascular endothelium and increases nitric oxide release.

In the presence of aldosterone, plasma sodium in the high physiological range stiffens endothelial cells and reduces the release of nitric oxide. We now demonstrate effects of extracellular potassium on stiffness of individual cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells by using the tip of an atomic force microscope as a mechanical nanosensor. An acute increase of potassium in the physiological range swells and softens the endothelial cell and increases the release of nitric oxide.