Hyponatremia Vs Hypernatremia

Serum sodium is a concentration: it describes the relationship between body water and exchangeable sodium and potassium. It is not a direct measure of the body’s total sodium stores. Excess free water can lower the concentration even when total body sodium is normal or increased; water loss can raise it even when total body sodium is reduced. Hyponatremia is a serum sodium concentration below 136 mmol/L. The usual severity bands are mild at 130–135 mmol/L, moderate at 125–129 mmol/L, and severe below 125 mmol/L. Hypernatremia is a serum sodium concentration above 145 mmol/L; the clinical summary identifies 145–149 mmol/L as mild and 158 mmol/L or higher as severe. [1][2] Time course changes risk. Acute hyponatremia or hypernatremia develops in less than 48 hours; chronic disturbance develops over 48 hours or longer. A sodium result therefore needs three companions: the client’s neurologic status, the volume examination, and the rate at which the sodium changed.