sodium control problems common to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Gregory Marlow   (2009-12-08 14:41)  none

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

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