The Question that Made the Scientist Think

According to www.cds.gov, “The vast majority of adults eat more sodium than they should—an average of more than 3,400 mg each day.” 3,400 mg a day is like eating a little less than 4 bowls of Ramen noodles every day! Eating this much salt can cause Heart Failure, Kidney Failure, and your blood pressure to increase tremendously. This caused the scientist to wonder “How long does it take for salt to affect your blood pressure?” If the Scientist took the initial blood pressure of five adults, then gave them 1000g of NaCl (salt) and took their blood pressure every five minutes for two hours, then the scientist predicts that the blood pressure will reach its highest level at the one hour mark of the test. For this purpose, the scientist researched the Chemical compounds of salt, the importance of hypertension, and the effect that salt has on blood pressure.

Salt, also known as Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is a chemical compound that is used in most foods, but it does more to the body than most people realize. Furthermore, the scientist had to research exactly how salt affects the procedure of the experiment the Scientist has to research salt and how it might affect the body. Salt is the chemical compound between Sodium and Chloride. Together they form NaCl, a chemical compound known as salt. The human's body relies on certain minerals and functions for it to work properly. To bolster this, humans have to maintain their salt intake daily.

Salt has a huge effect on the rest of the human body. It affects every single organ in its own way. “If you eat a lot of salt... you will become thirsty and drink water… ultimately you will excrete much of the excess salt and water in urine.” (figure this out) Different people and animals handle salt differently.

After the scientist concluded their studies on salt, they had to research what it effects: blood pressure and the kidneys. Blood pressure is the force that your heart is pumping your blood out. Each time your heart beats, your blood is pushed up against your arteries from this pressure. Your blood pressure is the highest when your heart actually pumps this blood. This pressure is known as your systolic pressure. In between beets, the pressure is called your diastolic pressure. For a patient to figure out if they have high blood pressure, they have to take a test between a two week time period for accurate results. There are no symptoms other than fatigue and headaches. According to Mayo Clinic, “For children and teens, a health provider compares the results of the blood pressure reading to what other kids results who are the same height, age, and gender.” There are two types of high blood pressure: primary and secondary. Primary, also known as hereditary, is when high blood pressure runs in the family and in the genealogy of the patient. Secondary blood pressure is caused by something like another medical condition.

Hypertension can be a bad thing for the body, eventually leading to a heart attack kidney failure or even a stroke. Medicined have been made to lower blood pressure but this does not mean that it works for every patient. A lot of studies have been done on the topic of hypertension. Most of these studies were affected by obesity, gender, age, medical history, and alcohol use. These studies have lead to this. If the patient has high blood pressure, their readings will show their systolic 140 or higher and the diastolic 90 or higher. If the blood pressure numbers are higher than 180/120, then the patient needs immediate medical attention.

Furthermore, the scientist continued their studies by debating how salt really affects the body. After researching salt and Blood pressure separately, They needed to figure out what they do together and how that can cause fatal harm to the body. According to Blod pressure UK, “Saltworks on your kidneys to make your body hold on to more water. This extra water raises your blood pressure and puts a strain on your kidneys, arteries, heart, and brain….Over time, this extra strain can damage the kidneys - known as kidney disease...reducing your salt intake can make your blood pressure medicine work better.’

Salt can really damage every single part of the human body if it is consumed so often at such a high rate. “If you continue to eat too much salt then over time, the damage caused by the extra blood pressure may become so severe that the arteries burst or become completely clogged.” (Mayo Clinic) In short, Eating a lot of salt can badly damage the inside of your arteries from high blood pressure. Furthermore, consuming salt raises the amount of NaCl inside your bloodstream, which then ruins the average balance the human body has and reduces the ability for your kidney’s to drain and remove water.

In the same way, kidneys have a hard time removing water, they also struggle to remove waste as well. Kidneys remove waste from your body through urine. The human body uses osmosis to draw out the water from the kidneys. Kidney failure is when the kidneys work very very poorly at removing waste. They can't filter out the blood normally which causes the waste to remain the body. There are five stages of kidney disease: stage one has 90% or more function, stage two has 60-89%, stage three has 30-59%, stage four has 15-29&, and stage five has less than 15%, total kidney failure.

If the Scientist took the initial blood pressure of five adults, then gave them 1000g of NaCl (salt) and took their blood pressure every five minutes for two hours, then the scientist predicts that the blood pressure will reach its highest level at the one hour mark of the test. To help conclude the Scientist’s hypothesis, the scientist looked at the Chemical compounds of salt, the importance of hypertension, and the effect that salt has on blood pressure. In the end, the scientist learned that salt causes your body to initially be dehydrated, which then causes you to need more water and for your blood to get thicker. Salt eventually starts to deteriorate the walls of your arteries. In the end, salt and hypertension can cause kidney failure, a heart attack, and diabetes. This information benefits anyone who wants to know how salt affects the body. Lowering the salt intake can actually cause the human body to lose weight. Because of this research, the scientist can now continue onto the experiment and can help others with their questions about salt and people trying to understand how it affects the body. 

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