sodium control problems common to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
Gregory Marlow, none
8 December 2009
One should considered that the genes responsible for the sodium level control system may be the ones responsible for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Both these illness have a ten fold higher frequency of hospital admissions with hyponatremia compared to hyponatremia in all other admissions. I believe that most hyponatremia in psychiatric patients is incorrectly attributed to polydipsia. Instead it should be looked at as a possible underlying cause. Patients with hyponatremia can display many mental symptoms common to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In addition there is a mechanism that links sodium to the circadian rhythm. In the evening the body lowers blood sodium levels in preparation for sleep. If the individual already has a low level due to some hormone problem, the evening lowering may cause levels to become hyponatremic.
sodium control problems common to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
8 December 2009
One should considered that the genes responsible for the sodium level control system may be the ones responsible for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Both these illness have a ten fold higher frequency of hospital admissions with hyponatremia compared to hyponatremia in all other admissions. I believe that most hyponatremia in psychiatric patients is incorrectly attributed to polydipsia. Instead it should be looked at as a possible underlying cause. Patients with hyponatremia can display many mental symptoms common to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In addition there is a mechanism that links sodium to the circadian rhythm. In the evening the body lowers blood sodium levels in preparation for sleep. If the individual already has a low level due to some hormone problem, the evening lowering may cause levels to become hyponatremic.
Competing interests
None declared