ScienceMag.org reports that salt is preferentially deposited at the site of skin wounds.
Scientists only recently learned that the connective tissue of skin can serve as a reservoir for sodium ions when we consume large amounts of salt. When Jens Titze, a clinical pharmacologist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville was studying dietary salt intake in mice, he noticed that even mice on low-salt diets had unusually high salt concentrations in wounded skin. Titze and his colleagues realized that immune cells arriving in wounded skin to fight infections were entering a salty microenvironment. They hypothesized that the body was shuffling salt to infected skin to protect against invaders.
The scientists wondered if the higher salt concentration near wounds might affect immune responses, so they cultured macrophages from mice, and added salt to raise the level to what they saw in skin near wounds. They then challenged the macrophages with a common infectious agents.
Salt increased the microbe-killing capacity of the immune cells, the team reports; the macrophages exposed to high levels of sodium chloride released significantly more microbicidal molecules than those that grew in a culture medium without salt. Next, the team infected macrophages with the common pathogens Escherichia coli or Leishmania major. After 24 hours, the E. coli load in macrophages exposed to high sodium chloride levels was less than half of that of macrophages cultured without salt, and L. major infections were down as well.
The effect was seen even in salt levels found in mice on low-salt diets. They then went on to compare the effect in mice fed either a high or low salt diet, and found that the higher salt mice fought infections much better.
They also caution that there may be better ways to increase salt in the skin than adding it to your diet, such as applying it to wounds directly as part of the treatment.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 04 2015, @01:58PM
Neosporin (etc -- topical antiseptic cream containing antibiotics) will probably take a big sales hit if it turns out that a saline gel works just as well. Might also reduce the tendency for bacteria to become antibiotic immune?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:31PM
Only if they don't come out with some variation of "Now with Salt!" or "Salt Flavored!"
(Score: 3, Funny) by pnkwarhall on Wednesday March 04 2015, @06:22PM
Um, salt **hurts** when you put it in open wounds. How do you suggest they market that?
"It's the sting that says it's working!"
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 3, Insightful) by davester666 on Wednesday March 04 2015, @07:08PM
Yeah, nobody would put iodine or Mercurochrome on wounds.
(Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Wednesday March 04 2015, @09:42PM
Not so much anymore they don't :)
Honestly, as soon as I posted that comment I realized the manufacturer could just add a topical analgesic (or whatever they're called) to the ointment.
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 05 2015, @11:32AM
Our studies show Market demand for cocaine laced salty water and ointments would be very high indeed.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Thursday March 05 2015, @01:55PM
Nobody would buy it because it might sting a bit? I dunno about that -- how many people clean their wounds with rubbing (or perhaps drinking) alcohol? That's certainly what I always use. The only people I know who keep Neosporin around are people with little kids.
And you could make a killing marketing this stuff to the hippies. Bottle seawater and brand it as "VEGAN! ORGANIC! ALL-NATURAL! NON-TOXIC! CHEMICAL-FREE!"...although actually, those might not all be true if it's ocean water ;)
(Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Thursday March 05 2015, @02:17PM
Poor hippies, they're so easily took. Not like everybody else.
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 3, Informative) by urza9814 on Wednesday March 04 2015, @02:18PM
My mother is a nurse, and when I was young we used to take family vacations to the beach. I remember any time any of us had any cut or scrape she would tell us to go soak it in the ocean because the salt would help it heal faster.
So...this doesn't seem like news. Is it a case of something long suspected but finally proven? Or a better understanding of the mechanism? Or just a dupe?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 04 2015, @02:35PM
It also makes some sense that you cry from the hurt: Tears are a very salty liquid; by crying you produce a healing agent that you can readily apply to the wound.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:01PM
I'm not aware of any human instinct to apply tears to a wound, though.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:32PM
You've never been to one of my family reunions ;-)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday March 04 2015, @02:35PM
Honey also got a lot of credit with the same story as salt. Anything that increases dissolved solids will make the environment very rough on cellular life.
I was unaware salt had any negative effects in healthy people:
the detrimental effects of a high-salt diet outweigh any potential immunological benefits
So I checked wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_salt [wikipedia.org]
and it seems I'm correct, there are no detrimental effects on average dude.
I'm part of the 90% or so of the population who simply sweat or pee out excess salt with no negative effect. About 10% of the population are totally F'ed and regardless of if they're diagnosed or not, salt raises their blood pressure with predictable negative results, so they do benefit from lower salt intake.
I had a conversation w/ my doctor about this along the lines of "well lets think about this mr engineer, a temporary trial of lower salt intake had absolutely zero effect on your blood pressure because you're part of the 90% who aren't salt sensitive (I think he had some latin term for people who aren't salt sensitive) but it did lead to horrific agonizing muscle cramps after long summer hikes, what do you think your body is telling you to do?" (he's a good doc but a bit of jerk sometimes)
I have noticed over my life that salt, like caffeine and sugar, build up a tolerance, so whats barely noticeable almost untastable to a heavy addict is simply inedible to those without a tolerance.
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:00PM
The pendulum has swung away from low sodium:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1407695 [nejm.org]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24651634 [nih.gov]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:49PM
The change in public attitudes started after the creation of a sodium song [youtube.com] using the style of Rock and Roll music that the kids seem to like.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Wednesday March 04 2015, @06:24PM
Useful stuff at influencing folks, that rock-n-roll.
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 1) by gmrath on Thursday March 05 2015, @03:19AM
"Country ham" immediately comes to mind. Had some when I passed through Alabama one time. Never again. It was inedible to this northern boy although I do use lots of salt on just about everything. "Sweet tea" is another complete shocker. I guess that goes to show that the food groups down south really are salt, sugar, fat, and chocolate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 05 2015, @05:12AM
Your mother was a fool. Marine infections are bloody frightful.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Hartree on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:16PM
Then let me rub salt in that wound.
I assure you it's only to help and not because I enjoy seeing you squirm. *muwahahaha*
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday March 04 2015, @04:31PM
Yeah, I was thinking along the lines of what kind of sadistic person came up with this research...
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Funny) by ghost on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:19PM
Strip the flesh! Salt the wounds!
I still don't trust his views on poop trains, though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 04 2015, @05:49PM
You never should've come here.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Wednesday March 04 2015, @03:33PM
So how much salt should be put in a wound to get into the required salt level?
(or what specific levels is normal and what level is present in wounds when the body heals them? in ppt or g/kg)
(Score: 3, Funny) by danmars on Wednesday March 04 2015, @04:49PM
Next they'll find out that lemon juice is far more effective than salt. Then we can all proceed with torturing injured people even better (for their own good, of course). If it stings or burns, that means it's working.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Wednesday March 04 2015, @08:18PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by rainday on Wednesday March 04 2015, @06:15PM
I've always heard that salt promoted healing. I remember as a kid watching Mutiny on the Bounty with my mom. There was a scene where a man was whipped and then they dumped buckets of seawater on him and he screamed a lot. My mom said it was meant to be cruel, but that saltwater was a quick and dirty way to stop bleeding and dry the wound. Maybe promote healing ... but that salt would also create horrible scars, so the poor sailor would never forget the whipping.
And I have no idea what my point is ... just felt an odd, rare urge to comment. I shall go back to my corner now.
(Score: 1) by pnkwarhall on Wednesday March 04 2015, @06:26PM
Thanks for sharing!
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 3, Informative) by number6 on Wednesday March 04 2015, @09:35PM
FACT: Ancient Greek soldiers would piss on their wounds and cuts to clean and assist healing.
FACT: Peasants from remote villages of Meditteranean countries will summon their young child to piss on a fresh cut.
Urine is salty, and the study by the scientists in the summary has already been known to ancient civilizations for thousands of years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 04 2015, @10:24PM
Did they marry young girl children?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 04 2015, @11:16PM
Are you a closet pedophile? or did you just want to throw some flippancy into the conversation?
To save you the trouble of posting childish comments again, here is some educational research material:
Sexual Life in Ancient Greece - Search Results [amazon.com]
Sexual Life in Ancient Greece - Search Results [google.com]
Your main city library should have copies of some of those books.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 05 2015, @12:18AM
More importantly - fresh urine is sterile, but any water they may have had at hand probabaly wasn't. Wine would have worked even better.