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For many years, it has been recognised that a high-salt diet is bad for you. Eating too much sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, stomach cancer, kidney stones and osteoporosis. A reduction in salt intake could prevents thousands of deaths each year in England and Wales from cardiovascular disease alone.

Recently, though, salt (also known as sodium chloride) has become implicated in a new group of ailments. Research from Yale, Harvard and other leading institutions has found that a high-salt diet worsens symptoms in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The connection has come as a surprise, even to the scientists who first identified the link. “I would never have thought that this link existed,” said Vijay Kuchroo, a scientist at Harvard University who is studying the effect of salt on multiple sclerosis. “It just never occurred to me.”

Over the past 30 years, autoimmune disease has overall risen by between 5% and 7% a year. The increase can’t be explained by genetics – our DNA hasn’t changed that rapidly. Researchers have suggested several possible explanations, including environmental toxins, smoking, low levels of vitamin D, and certain infections. But none of these theories has provided an adequate answer.

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Too Little Salt (Low Sodium Levels)

As stated above, not enough sodium in your body can also cause health problems. That's because a lack of sodium causes your body's blood volume to decrease. This, in turn, will lead to a corresponding decrease in your blood pressure level, a condition known as hypotension.

When blood volume starts to become low, your body's adrenal and pituitary glands secrete hormones that cause your kidneys to retain both sodium and water in order to increase blood volume. If this condition is not corrected over time, it can lead to kidney problems, as well as adrenal fatigue. Low blood pressure can also cause your heart rate to increase, as well as light-headedness and sometimes shock.

Low blood sodium levels can also affect the brain, which is highly sensitive to changes in sodium levels. As the brain becomes affected, you may feel yourself becoming lethargic or confused. If the condition worsens, additional symptoms, including muscle twitching and seizures can also occur. In severe cases of low blood sodium levels, the result can be stupor, coma, and even death.

Low blood sodium levels occur when your body's sodium supply becomes over-diluted. This can occur due to drinking excessive amounts of water or if you receive water intravenously in above normal amounts during hospitalization. Heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver, kidney problems, chronic diarrhea, and improper secretion of hormones by the pituitary or adrenal glands can also deplete blood sodium levels. Other causes include excessive exercise and/or perspiration, infections, and the use of diuretic medications.