thesis
Electrolytes in early primary hypertension : an epidemiological approach
- Publication date
- 18 June 1986
- Publisher
- The studies presented in this thesis were conducted in a population
of young, non-hospitalized subjects. This opportunity was presented
by the availability of a large cohort of children and young adults
that had been followed up for more than seven years as part of the
Epidemiologic Preventive Organization zoetermeer {EPOZ study), and
of which a large body of data on blood pressure and other
characteristics could be used. The basic theme of the studies was to
elucidate mechanisms involved
hypertension, with special
electrolytes. (chapter 1)
in the early pa~hogenesis
emphasis on the role
of
of
primary
dietary
The effect of changes in electrolyte intake in youngsters
elevated blood pressure was studied in two randomized trials.
with
The
scientific concept
in evaluating the
of the randomized trial is of primary importance
effect of a certain characteristic, like
electrolyte intake, on another characteristic, like blood
Randomization garantuees internal validity of a study with
pressure.
regard to
potential sources of bias. In addition, blinding of participants and
investigators for the type of intervention during the trial reduces
the possibility of distortion of the results by information bias.
Randomization may be accomplished by random assignment of
individuals to a certain treatment, the parallel-group design, or by
randomization of treatment periods within an individual, the
crossover design. Both methods were applied in studies presented in
this thesis. (chapter 2)
