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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffHyponatremia is a condition in which your blood level of sodium is abnormally low.
Sodium, an electrolyte, helps regulate water levels in the fluid in and around your cells. In hyponatremia, one or more factors — ranging from an underlying medical condition to excessive water intake during endurance sports — cause sodium levels to drop. When this happens, your body's water levels rise, and your cells begin to swell. This swelling can cause many health problems, from mild to severe.
Hyponatremia treatment is aimed at resolving the underlying condition. Depending on the cause of hyponatremia, you may simply need to cut back on fluids. In other cases of hyponatremia, you may need intravenous fluids and medications.
- Rose BD. Diagnosis of hyponatremia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Gibbs MA, et al. Electrolyte disturbances. In: Marx JA, et al., eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/139569939-5/845288330/1365/382.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-02845-4..50128-1_6348. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Rose BD. Causes of hyponatremia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Rose BD. Treatment of hyponatremia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Weinberg MS, et al. Disorders of sodium homeostasis. In: Ferri FF. Practical Guide to the Care of the Medical Patient. 7th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/139569939-3/0/1417/921.html?tocnode=52510185&fromURL=921.html. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Drezner JA, et al. Environmental influences. In: Rakel RE. Textbook of Family Medicine. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/139569939-6/845288600/1481/481.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2467-5..50043-9--cesec21_2481. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Ferrante MA, et al. Endogenous metabolic disorders. In: Goetz GD. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/139569939-7/845289096/1488/324.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3618-0..10038-4_2905. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Campbell GA. The agony of ecstasy: MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) and the kidney. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. 2008;3:1852.
