According to a Swedish study, global warming could cause an increase in hospitalizations due to low levels of this salt. Symptoms: lethargy and mental confusion
The consequences of global warming on human health are mainly linked to the risks due to the most frequent ones heat waves, the greater spread of parasites and pathogens, the increase in food and water famines. But it is likely that i climate changes they will also lead to a increase in hospital admissions because of hyponatremia, a condition in which the sodium levels in the blood are too low. This is suggested by a study by the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm published in the
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology
and Metabolism, which he hypothesizes as a temperature increase of two degrees centigradein line with climate projections for 2050, could increase hospitalizations for hyponatremia by almost 14%.
How much is important
Our bodies need sodium to maintain normal blood pressure, support nerve and muscle functions, and regulate the level of fluid in cells, but its concentration is a delicate balance. “Sodium is one of the most important electrolytes in the body, which poorly tolerates its variations in blood concentration” he stresses Andrea Giustina, head of the Endocrinology Unit at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan. “This is a condition that can be due to many causes: in fact, up to 30 percent of patients who are hospitalized with acute or chronic illnesses have a low sodium level, in hospitals it is a very frequent reality ». In these cases, however, these are secondary diagnoses: patients are hospitalized for other pathologies and laboratory investigations discover low levels of sodium in the blood. In the Swedish study, however, the researchers took into consideration only hospitalizations where the main diagnosis was hyponatremia
strictwith an evidently lower percentage of patients.
Symptoms
It is the brain that is particularly sensitive to changes in the sodium level in the blood and consequently the first symptoms to appear are drowsiness, lethargy, mental confusion, nausea, vomiting, convulsions up to coma. Disorders such as kidney disorders, cirrhosis or heart failure can cause the sodium and fluid retention, but often the body retains a greater quantity of liquids than sodium, which is therefore diluted. Even drinking excessively or aprofuse sweating can lead to hyponatremia. Medicines such as diuretics they are finally another common cause of this condition because they increase the secretion of water, but also of sodium, especially in the elderly. Another frequent cause is the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (Siadh)in which there is an excessive and unmotivated production ofantidiuretic hormone, which reduces the excretion of water by the kidneys: by retaining more water in the body, sodium is diluted. “Even infectious diseases can lead to this condition – specifies Professor Giustina, who is Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan – so much so that it is very frequent in patients with pneumonia, including from Covid“.
The role of heat
But will the heat really affect the delicate balance of sodium concentration in the blood? In the Swedish study, researchers linked data from the entire Swedish adult population to information on 24-hour average temperatures over a nine-year period. During that time, more than 11,000 Swedes were hospitalized with the main diagnosis of hyponatremia. Most of the inmates were women over the age of 76. Average daily temperatures ranged from -10 to 26 degrees. There was a 10 times greater risk of hospitalization on warmer days than on colder days: for those over 80 the risk was 15 times higher. When the researchers applied the data to a prognostic model that predicts global warming of 1 or 2 degrees Celsius, they found that hospital admissions due to hyponatremia could increase by 6.3% and 13.9%, respectively. However, the temperature thresholds above which the risks are amplified are lacking. “It is not certain that these results can also be applied to the countries of southern Europe where the population is more accustomed to high temperatures and the environments are equipped, with air conditioners, to make us live in the heat” reflects Giustina “It is well known – concludes – that excess heat can lead to hyponatremia but it is likely that concomitant and predisposing situations such as diuretics or Siadh therapy are necessary “.
June 21, 2022 (change June 21, 2022 | 10:28)
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