Plasma renin, urinary sodium excretion and vascular disease

1. Urinary sodium excretion and plasma renin activity have been measured in a group of persons with untreated mild hypertension and in a control normotensive group. 2. Preliminary analyses of the data indicate that the daily sodium excretion was significantly higher in the hypertensive group but the plasma renin activity did not correlate significantly with the urinary excretion of sodium. 3. These findings suggest that sodium intake was significantly greater in a population with mild hypertension than in a comparable normotensive group.