Electrolyte Blood Press.  2013 Dec;11(2):53-55. 10.5049/EBP.2013.11.2.53.

Severe Hypernatremia by Excessive Bamboo Salt Ingestion in Healthy Young Woman

• Ju HJ
• Bae HJ
• Choi DE
• Na KR
• Lee KW
• Shin YT

• KMID: 2168401
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5049/EBP.2013.11.2.53

Abstract

Severe hypernatremia is an important electrolyte disorder that has serious effects. The patient had no medical history. A. 20-year-old ingested bamboo salt for digestion and weight reduction according to the folk remedies posted on an internet website. She presented with vomiting and diarrhea over ten times per day. Her initial serum sodium concentration was 174mEq/L. Her symptoms improved rapidly with hypotonic saline infusion. She recovered completely without any sequelae in three days. Severe hypernatremia in a normal young adult with clear consciousness and normal renal function has not been reported in Korea yet. So we report a case of severe hypernatremia by excessive bamboo salt ingestion in healthy young woman.

Keyword

Hypernatremia; Folk remedies

MeSH Terms

Consciousness
Diarrhea
Digestion
Eating*
Female
Humans
Hypernatremia*
Internet
Korea
Medicine, Traditional
Sodium
Vomiting
Weight Loss
Young Adult
Sodium

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Serial data of serum sodium level and osmolarity during clinical course. sOsm; serum osmolarity, sNa; serum sodium

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