Could junk food increase your risk of MS, asthma and eczema ? Scientists link SALT to autoimmune diseases for first time

Posted: March 7, 2013 at 4:00 pm

First time excess salt has been linked to these diseases, say the researchers Salt appears to affect how certain cells in the immune system work Mice fed a high-salt diet also had higher levels of inflammation Humans did not evolve eating high-salt diets, which may be the problem

By Claire Bates

PUBLISHED: 13:05 EST, 6 March 2013 | UPDATED: 13:20 EST, 6 March 2013

Three-quarters of the salt we consume is hidden in everyday foods

The modern diet of takeaways and microwave meals could be to blame for a sharp increase in conditions such as multiple sclerosis, say scientists.

Multiple sclerosis is one of a host of autoimmune diseases, including alopecia, asthma and eczema, where a person's immune system attacks itself in error.

Now a team of scientists from Yale University in the U.S and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, in Germany, say salty diets could be partly to blame.

'This study is the first to indicate that excess salt may be one of the environmental factors driving the increased incidence of autoimmune diseases,' they said.

The team studied the role of T helper cells in the body. These activate and 'help' other cells to fight dangerous pathogens such as bacteria or viruses and battle infections.

Previous research suggests that a subset of these cells - known as Th17 cells - also play an important role in the development of autoimmune diseases.

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Could junk food increase your risk of MS, asthma and eczema ? Scientists link SALT to autoimmune diseases for first time

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