What causes hyponatremia?
Table of Contents
- 1 What causes hyponatremia?
- 2 What is hyponatremia and what are the symptoms of it?
- 3 How do you detect hyponatremia?
- 4 Who is at risk for hyponatremia?
- 5 How quickly can you correct hyponatremia?
- 6 What happens if hyponatremia is not treated?
- 7 Can you recover from hyponatremia?
- 8 Can low sodium affect your eyes?
What causes hyponatremia?
Hyponatremia is decrease in serum sodium concentration < 136 mEq/L (< 136 mmol/L) caused by an excess of water relative to solute. Common causes include diuretic use, diarrhea, heart failure, liver disease, renal disease, and the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH).
What is hyponatremia and what are the symptoms of it?
Low blood sodium is common in older adults, especially those who are hospitalized or living in long-term care facilities. Signs and symptoms of hyponatremia can include altered personality, lethargy and confusion. Severe hyponatremia can cause seizures, coma and even death.
How do you raise your sodium level?
Insufficient sodium in your blood is also known as hyponatremia. It occurs when water and sodium are out of balance. In other words, there’s either too much water or not enough sodium in your blood. Normally, your sodium level should be between 135 and 145 milliequivalents per liter.
How do you detect hyponatremia?
However, because the signs and symptoms of hyponatremia occur in many conditions, it’s impossible to diagnose the condition based on a physical exam alone. To confirm low blood sodium, your doctor will order blood tests and urine tests.
Who is at risk for hyponatremia?
Hyponatremia is more likely in people living with certain diseases, like kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and diseases affecting the lungs, liver or brain. It often occurs with pain after surgery. Also, people taking medications like diuretics and some antidepressants are more at risk for this condition.
How long does it take to recover from hyponatremia?
Generally, low sodium is asymptomatic (does not produce symptoms), when it is mild or related to your diet. It can take weeks or months for you to experience the effects of low salt in your diet—and these effects can be corrected by just one day of normal salt intake.
How quickly can you correct hyponatremia?
SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE
| Clinical recommendation | Evidence rating | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| In patients with severe symptomatic hyponatremia, the rate of sodium correction should be 6 to 12 mEq per L in the first 24 hours and 18 mEq per L or less in 48 hours. | C | Consensus guidelines based on systematic reviews |
What happens if hyponatremia is not treated?
If the hyponatremia is not effectively treated, the symptoms may progress from mild confusion to acute delirium, seizures, coma, and even death [38]. Furthermore, the risk of hyponatremia in patients with psychosis is increased by treatment with fluoxetine, tricyclic antidepressants, or calcium channel blockers [39].
What organs are affected by hyponatremia?
In acute hyponatremia, sodium levels drop rapidly — resulting in potentially dangerous effects, such as rapid brain swelling, which can result in a coma and death. Premenopausal women appear to be at the greatest risk of hyponatremia-related brain damage.
Can you recover from hyponatremia?
Most patients with hypovolemic hyponatremia can be treated successfully with isotonic saline solution (0.9\% NaCl), but in the presence of severe symptoms, such as seizures or coma, hypertonic saline infusion is required [7].
Can low sodium affect your eyes?
Hyponatremia can cause neurological problems such as seizures however its ocular side effects are not commonly encountered in daily practice. A decrease in sodium levels can cause choroidal swelling leading to hyperopic shifts.