Pathogenetic studies have demonstrated that the interdependency of sodium and potassium affects blood pressure. Emerging evidences on the sodium-to-potassium ratio show benefits for a reduction in sodium and an increase in potassium compared to sodium and potassium separately. As presently there is no known review, this article examined the practical use of the sodium-to-potassium ratio in daily practice. Epidemiological studies suggest that the urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio may be a superior metric as compared to separate sodium and potassium values for determining the relation to blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risks. Higher correlations and better agreements are seen for the casual urine sodium-to-potassium ratio than for casual urine sodium or potassium alone when compared with the 24-h urine values. Repeated measurements of the casual urine provide reliable estimates of the 7-day 24-h urine value with less bias for the sodium-to-potassium ratio as compared to the common formulas used for estimating the single 24-h urine from the casual urine for sodium and potassium separately. Self-monitoring devices for the urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio measurement makes it possible to provide prompt onsite feedback. Although these devices have been evaluated with a view to support an individual approach for sodium reduction and potassium increase, there has yet to be an accepted recommended guideline for the sodium-to-potassium ratio. This review concludes with a look at the practical use of the sodium-to-potassium ratio for assistance in practical sodium reduction and potassium increase.
Keywords: behavior change; blood pressure; cardiovascular diseases; dietary intake evaluation; potassium; salt; self-monitoring; sodium; sodium-to-potassium ratio.