Sodium Part 2
Severe vomiting and diarrhea can also cause this deficiency because of the loss of fluid. When they replace this loss with water, this dilutes the sodium in the bloodstream. The blood travels to the brain and when there is a shortage of this mineral, this triggers the responses in the brain. A sudden drop in the sodium level, for example, can cause severe and sudden symptoms, such as muscle twitches, unresponsiveness to stimuli, coma and even death.
Since the levels of sodium in the blood help to control the blood flow to the heart, toxicity to this mineral is often characterized by high blood pressure. It is often accompanied by fluid retention which causes a build up of the mineral in the body.
Sodium toxicity is known as hypernatremia and is often caused by dehydration, not drinking enough fluids and diseases of the kidney. The first symptom you may experience is excessive thirst as the body needs water.
In just about all cases, the treatment involves replacing the fluids in your body with those containing water and small amounts of sodium.
The levels have to be reduced very slowly so as not to cause further damage to the body. In order to diagnose whether you have a deficiency or toxicity of this mineral, you do need to have a blood test to determine the amount of mineral in your blood.
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