Salt and Water balance Flashcards
(60 cards)
What endocrine system has the predominant control over sodium
RAAS
Which endocrine system has the predominant control over water
ADH
How does hyponatraemia often present
- Initially: anorexia, nausea, malaise
- Then: Headache, irritability, confusion, weakness, decrease GCS, seizures
- increased risk of falls in elderly
- cardiac failure and oedema can indicate the cause
Symptoms of salt loss – Diarrhoea & vomiting, excessive sweating
describe how the RAAS system works
- angiotensinogen is produced from the liver
- renin from the kidney acts on angiotensingoen and converts it to angiotensin I
- ACE from the lung converts angiotensin I into angiotensin II
- Angiotensin II causes an increase in sympathetic activity, causes aldosterone secretion which causes sodium retention, causes arteriolar vasoconstriction, increases ADH secretion
How does ADH control water
- Osmoreceptors detect an increase in osmotic pressure
- baroreceptors detect a decrease in blood pressure
- this signals to the posterior pituitary
- the posterior pituitary releases ADH
- ADH causes blood vessels to vasoconstrict and causes an increased water reabsorption in the kidney
- this leads to increased blood volume and increased blood pressure
What causes hyponatreaemia
- Dilutional hyponatremia
- salt deficiency or loss
- Pseudohyponatraemia
Name what can cause dilutional hyponatreamia
Too much water ingested
- psychogenic polydipsia - psychiatric problem whereby a person drinks too much water
Too much water reabsorbed (often osmotic)
- cirrhosis
- Nephrotic syndrome
- Congestive cardiac failure
Reduced excretion of water
- syndrome of inappropriate ADH (SIADH)
- hypoadreanlism
How does salt deficiency or loss cause hyponatreaemia
Loss from
- kidneys
- gut
- skin
Hypoadrenalism
How does pseudohyponatraemia cause hyponatraemia
Lab problem Arterfactual low Na due to analytical problems - high lipids - high glucose - paraproteins
How do you determine the cause of hyponatraemia
History
Drugs
Water / Alcohol ingestion
Renal / Liver problems
Examination
Are they euvolaemic, hypovolaemic or hypervolaemic?
Investigations
U&Es, plasma and urine osmolality, glucose, TFT, cortisol
Urinary sodium
what drugs can cause hyponatraemia
- Proton pump inhibitors
- Antidepressants such as citalopram
- thiazides
- loop diuretics
How do you assess volume status
important in patients with hyponatremia
check:
- pulse
- postural blood pressure - look for a drop of 10mmhg
- skin turgor
- JVP - look at the neck carefully to see
- mucus membrnae
- listen to breast sound - crackles due to fluid overloaded in heart failure
- weight chart
- fluid chart
What does it suggest if potassium is high
- suggest that you have glucocorticoid deficiency
what is characterstic of addisons disease
low sodium/high potassium
What does a high urea and creatine suggest
- high suggests AKI/dehydration
What does a low cortisol suggest
- very low suggests glucorticoid deficiency
what does it suggest if urinary sodium is low
- Hypovolaemia - kidneys are trying to preserve salt and water
What does it suggest if urinary sodium is high
- Suggests inappropriate loss of sodium e.g. SIADH
What is SIADH
- this is a condition that is characterised by excess production of ADH that is inappropriate
What can SIADH be due to
- malignancy
- CNS disorders
- Lung disease
- endocrine disease
- Drugs
describe the signs of SIADH
- leads to a dilutional hyponatraemia
- patient is euvolaemic
- low plasma osmolality, inappropriately high urine osmolality - (too much concentrated urine and too much dilute plasma)
Define euvolaemic
Having a normal amount of body fluids
What is the treatment of SIADH
- Treat cause of restrict fluid
- consider salt +/- loop diuretics if severe
- demeclocycline (ADH antagonists) - rarely used for SIADH
- ADH receptor antagonists (Vaptans, e.g. tolvaptan)
what is the treatment of SIADH if the person is confused or severe CNS symptoms
- Hypertonic saline
Tolvaptan
- V2 receptor antagonists - decreases water permeability of collecting duct
- antagonises effects of ADH