Even more people may have hypernatremia at some point during hospitalization.
Infants and older people are particularly at risk of a dangerously high sodium level.
This article covers the symptoms and causes of hypernatremia, including at-risk populations.
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It also explains how healthcare providers diagnose and treat high sodium levels.
Symptoms are also more likely if a person has developed hypernatremia suddenly instead of developing it gradually.
(This latter is more common.)
Hypernatremia occurs in about 1% to 4% of people who are hospitalized.
People with hypernatremia are also more likely to be discharged to hospice or a nursing facility.
One possible complication of hypernatremia isintracranial bleeding(bleeding inside the brain).
However, sometimes the body fails to keep the sodium concentration within a normal range.
When the concentration gets too high, thats calledhypernatremia.
(Hyponatremiais another problem, in which the concentration gets too low.
It has different causes and leads to other potential problems.)
This is critical for the way your body regulates how much water is inside cells.
This helps check that that they dont swell excessively or contract too much.
It is also important to keep yourblood pressurein the right range.
One way is through antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which is released by thepituitary glandin the brain.
ADH triggers the kidneys to release less water through the urine if you are getting dehydrated.
It also increases ones sense of thirst.
This helps increase water in the body, which lowers the concentration of sodium in the blood.
Specific Causes of Hypernatremia
Hypernatremia is usually brought on by a loss of water in the body.
That might happen because of decreased intake of water or increased loss of water.
More rarely, hypernatremia can happen when a person takes in excess amounts of sodium.
(When this happens, its often in hospitalized patients who have been givenIV fluidscontaining too much sodium.)
Inadequate intake of water has a number of different possible causes.
Water simply might not be available.
Or, for a variety of reasons, a person might not be drinking as much as they should.
Some of these include:
Certain medications may also cause hypernatremia as a side effect.
These includelithium, phenytoin, and amphotericin.
Populations at Risk
Infants and older people are most susceptible to hypernatremia.
Obviously, infants are not able to control their own intake of fluids.
They may easily become dehydrated from a stomach bug or if they are having trouble with breastfeeding.
Hypernatremia and Diet
Hypernatremia is NOT because of eating a lot of salty foods.
But eating too much salt might lead to other health problems, likehigh blood pressure.
Blood Levels
A blood sodium test is needed to diagnose hypernatremia.
Severe symptoms are most likely to happen if a persons sodium is even higher, say 160 or more.
The blood sodium test is usually performed along with other basic tests for electrolytes and other important blood products.
Thats important because different underlying causes have different treatments.
The medical history is critically important.
The clinician needs to know about symptoms, when they started, and other medical problems.
A medical exam is also a key component of diagnosis.
For example, a healthcare provider might noticesigns of dehydrationlike dry mouth or flaccid-appearing skin.
But some of the time, additional tests may be needed.
These may differ depending on the surrounding circumstances.
These might include:
Depending on the context and available clues, other tests might be needed.
This can help your clinician diagnose different kinds ofdiabetes insipidus, if present.
Or some people might need a CT scan of their head, to ensure a brain bleed isnt present.
How Do You Correct Hypernatremia?
Treatment of hypernatremia depends somewhat on the underlying cause.
Its important to address whatever caused the elevated sodium to begin with.
For example, someone with central diabetes insipidus might need to be treated with desmopressin.
Its also important to evaluate whether a medication might be the cause of the hypernatremia.
Its critical to replenish any lost fluids.
Sometimes this can just be done orally.
Its important that your medical team correct hypernatremia gradually.
Overly rapid treatment of hypernatremia can cause brain swelling in some cases.Seizuresare another possible risk.
So its critical that your healthcare team give your body a chance to adapt.
Summary
Hypernatremia is a medical situation that needs to be taken seriously.
Infants and older people are most at risk, especially those staying in the hospital.
Healthcare providers run a blood test to check sodium levels.
Talk your healthcare team about how exactly they plan to correct hypernatremia.
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