Diagnosis and treatment of patients with hyponatremia

Abstract

Hyponatremia is a sodium disorder in the blood. Hyponatremia can occur in chronic outpatients with no abnormal symptoms or display slight or acute symptoms in emergency / hospital patients. Hyponatremia may occur for many reasons such as water retention, dehydration due to kidney problems, exposure to substances that affect osmolality in the blood or from disorders in the water and sodium balance system controlled by pituitary gland hormones. Hyponatremia can be classified by plasma and urine osmolality as well as with volume status tests. Treatment takes into account urgency - if an acute condition, measures need to be taken to prevent brain edema or other potentially life-threatening neurological symptoms. One must treat the low sodium level in the blood, find the cause and correct the deficiency in order to return the body to a more healthy sodium level reading.