In this issue of the Archives, Yang et al1 report on their analysis of the relationship between mortality and usual intakes of sodium and potassium. Among more than 12 000 US adults whose dietary intake was assessed in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), they identified large relationships between higher sodium intake and higher all-cause mortality and between lower potassium intake and higher all-cause, cardiovascular (CVD), and ischemic heart disease (IHD) deaths. Most important, higher sodium to potassium ratios were strongly associated with increased all-cause, CVD, and IHD mortality.