Our body of salt Tracking the traces of sodium from blood to skin

Average global salt intake is more than double the amount that is recommended by guidelines (5 grams of sodium chloride per day). An amount of 3 million deaths per year worldwide is estimated to be attributable to high salt intake. For such a major health issue, it may come as a surprise that the underlying mechanisms are less well established than one might expect. Studies that more closely investigate the classical notion that salt leads to high blood pressure and other worse outcomes via water retention and consequential volume effects, do not seem to hold their ground.
Therefore, this thesis aimed to reevaluate the effects that high salt intake has throughout the human body. First, we closely reexamined classical theories based on volume retention and vascular resistance. Then, we explored more recent notions, involving the possibility of (skin) sodium storage and coinciding changes in immune cells, microcirculation, and glycosaminoglycans. The chapters of this thesis consecutively discuss these phenomena along the path that sodium undertakes from blood to skin, leaving its marks in each compartment.