The risk of respiratory failure or death from COVID-19 is higher if someone has abnormal blood sodium levels. Scientists from University College London have come to this conclusion. Their study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The study included all adult patients who reported COVID-19 to two major London hospitals over an 8-week period - a total of 488 people. The mean age of 277 men and 211 women was 68 years, and the mean hospital stay was 8 days.
Almost 32 percent those found to have low sodium levels on admission to the ward needed to be connected to respiratory support equipment. In people with normal sodium concentration, it was 17.5 percent. Importantly, unlike excess sodium in the blood, low levels of this element were not associated with an increased risk of death during hospitalization.
According to Dr. Ploutarchos Tzoulis of University College London, lead author of the study, `` Our study shows for the first time thatpatients presenting to hospital with COVID-19 and low sodium levels are twice as likely for intubationor other advanced respiratory support methods than people with normal sodium levels in the body.
However, patients with high sodium levels are three times more likely to die than those with normal levels.Blood sodium measurements can inform physicians when Which COVID-19 patients have an exceptionally high risk of deterioration and death, says Tzoulis.
- The level of this element should be an important element in deciding whether the sick person requires admission to the hospital and whether they should be monitored in the intensive care unit.
The author of the publication notes that sodium, an element essential for functioning (sodium helps regulate body fluid volume and blood pressure), is routinely measured in all patients admitted to hospital and that it is an inexpensive test.
In addition, the collected data showed that among patients with high sodium levels, almost 56% died at any time during their stay in hospital. For comparison: among people with normalized sodium, this percentageaccounted for 21 percent.
- When doctors find a patient has too little or too much sodium, they treat him by routine injection of fluids, fluid restriction, or medication. However, both conditions are in fact very often underrated and under-treated, says Tzoulis.
As she adds, fluid loss caused by e.g. diarrhea, vomiting, sweating or insufficient water intake can lead to high sodium levels. That is why it is so important to prevent dehydration in patients admitted to hospital for COVID-19.
Source: PAP