What harm does high sodium have on the human body

After doing a routine blood test in the hospital, some people may find that their sodium level is higher than normal, and the doctor will make a judgment on the sodium concentration. Generally, a concentration higher than 145mmol per liter is considered hypernatremia, which is a process in which the body loses more water than sodium. This article introduces the detailed causes, clinical manifestations and treatment of hypernatremia. Let's take a look.

A serum sodium concentration higher than 145mmol/L is called hypernatremia, which is common in hemoconcentration leading to concentrated hypernatremia. Rarely, hypernatremia may result from decreased renal sodium excretion, a condition called retained hypernatremia.

Causes

Concentrated hypernatremia is caused by excessive water loss, with water loss exceeding sodium loss. It is seen in hypertonic water loss caused by various reasons and is the main cause of hypernatremia. Retention-induced hypernatremia includes primary aldosteronism, hypercortisolism of different causes, excessive sodium intake, excessive infusion of sodium-containing drugs, sodium retention caused by brain diseases such as brain trauma, cerebrovascular accident, pituitary tumors, etc.

Clinical manifestations

Hypernatremia causes primarily neurologic symptoms. Acute hypernatremia has an abrupt onset, with the main symptoms being apathy, drowsiness, progressive increase in muscle tension, tremors, ataxia, convulsions, epileptic seizures, and even coma and death. Infants and young children may also present with vomiting, fever, and difficulty breathing. The symptoms of chronic hypernatremia are mild and may not be obvious in the early stages. In severe cases, they mainly manifest as irritability or indifference, increased muscle tone, hyperreflexia of deep tendon reflexes, convulsions or seizures, etc.

treat

Treatment of concentrated hypernatremia is primarily with rehydration. Retention of hypernatremia is mainly treated by limiting sodium intake and using natriuretic diuretics such as furosemide. In severe cases, 80 mg of furosemide can be injected intravenously and 4 L of 5% glucose can be dripped intravenously within 12 to 24 hours. During the fluid infusion process, pay attention to monitoring the pulse, blood pressure and blood biochemical changes. For severe hypernatremia, dialysis therapy may be considered to remove excess sodium from the body through dialysis.