Medicines across Europe are to be labelled with information about salt and sodium content, it has been revealed.
The change is being made following Scottish research revealing increased risk of cardiovascular disease among people taking medications containing sodium.
The study, published two years ago by The BMJ, found a 16% increased risk among these patients.
Researchers at Dundee University studied the effect of effervescent, dispersible and soluble medications that contain sodium – comparing patients taking them with those using non-sodium versions.
Researcher Dr Jacob George said he was pleased the European Medicines Agency had used the evidence to recommend changes to medicine labelling.
Dr George said: "It is vital that the public are given the correct information about the medicine they are taking to ensure it does not lead to more serious health complications.
“Prescription of these sodium-containing formulations should be done with caution, and patients prescribed them should be closely monitored for the emergence of hypertension and heart problems.
"Taking the maximum daily dose of some medicines can significantly increase the chances of cardiovascular events so this is a matter of public health importance and we felt it was vitally important for salt content of medicines to be labelled in same way as foods.”
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