[Dietary intake and urinary excretion of various mineral substances in patients with hypertension and ischemic heart disease].

A total of 150 inpatients were examined for the content of mineral substances (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium) in the blood, daily diet and daily urine. In normal subjects, intake of liquid and the elements was found to slightly exceed their excretion with urine. In patients with stage IIA essential hypertension and circulatory failure, stage I-II, the excretion of the elements exceeded their intake, which was likely to be associated with intake of diuretics. In patients with coronary heart disease, potassium was eliminated in a greater amount and calcium in a less amount as compared with the amounts supplied with the diet. The most demonstrable retention of sodium was recorded in patients with stage III essential hypertension. These patients showed a certain elevation of sodium concentration and potassium lessening in red cells. In making up the diets for patients, it is desirable to consider the pattern of changes in the ratio of the amount of mineral substances supplied with food and excreted with urine, plasma and red cell concentrations of sodium and potassium (which are mainly excreted by the kidneys), as well as those of calcium and magnesium, but with a certain reservation, since the latter ones are excreted from the body via the gastrointestinal tract.