The Dangers of Too Little Sodium

When it comes to sodium, a lot of people are told to watch their levels so they don't consume too much. But there can also be dangerous effects to your health if you don't get enough sodium.

It's called acute hyponatremia, and it's when your sodium levels drop rapidly. It can get pretty bad, leading to brain swelling and even coma or death.

According to Ernestine A. Wright, M.D., FACP, a board certified Primary Care Doctor with Mercy Personal Physicians Downtown in Baltimore, pre-menopausal women are at the greatest risk of developing hyponatremia.

"The female sex hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone, are important in regulating the body's water balance as well as your sodium levels, and during the perimenopausal phase, you have varying levels of your sex hormones, and therefore it becomes a little harder for your body to regulate the amount of sodium and the amount of extracellular fluid," Dr. Wright said.

Symptoms to watch out for include nausea, vomiting, headaches and muscle cramps. Dehydration or excessive amounts of fluid in your body can also both trigger Hyponatremia. Dr. Wright added that low sodium levels are 70 percent more common in women than men.

View Mercy primary care physician and geriatric specialist Dr. Ernestine Wright's interview regarding what low sodium levels mean for women.