Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An abnormally high plasma concentration of sodium ions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun medicine An abnormally high concentration of sodium (or salt) in blood plasma.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun excessive amounts of sodium in the blood; possibly indicating diabetes insipidus

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[hyper– + New Latin natrium, sodium (from French natron, natron; see natron) + –emia.]

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Examples

  • Excessive amounts of sodium in the body can bring on convulsions, a condition called hypernatremia, which Possene and Neil Turner may have had.

    A Furnace Afloat JOE JACKSON 2003

  • A more serious condition, a sodium imbalance called hypernatremia, can also occur.

    eHow - Health How To's 2010

  • It's extremely rare to have too much salt in our bodies, called hypernatremia, (it occurs in about

    Junkfood Science 2009

  • Even in small quantities, it's called hypernatremia.

    CNN Transcript Mar 5, 2009 2009

  • Apparantly the reason I have been having: headaches nausea vomiting severe abdominal swelling/cramps lower and lower water percents is because I have an electorlyte disorder -- sodium is more specifically the serum electrolyte I am deficient in. ummm hypernatremia?

    stem-d Diary Entry stem-d 2009

  • Sodium measurements were done and 30 were hypernatremia (GL 146) while 9 were hyponatremic ( LT 135).

    Archive 2007-05-01 james gaulte 2007

  • Sodium measurements were done and 30 were hypernatremia (GL 146) while 9 were hyponatremic ( LT 135).

    More on marathoner's hyponatremia james gaulte 2007

  • Severe hyperosmolality and hypernatremia are known to cause muscle injury by increasing intracellular sodium in muscle cells and decreasing the total body potassium level.

    I’ll see your ketoacidosis and raise you a renal failure | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. 2006

  • For example, hypernatremia, which means a high sodium, is often expressed in doctors 'notes as upward pointing arrow next to the chemical symbol for sodium, "Na".

    Archive 2004-07-01 2004

  • For example, hypernatremia, which means a high sodium, is often expressed in doctors 'notes as upward pointing arrow next to the chemical symbol for sodium, "Na".

    Medpundit 2004

Comments

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  • Reesetee: a "Worse Than It Sounds" candidate?

    "The bread, which they had carefully dried in the sun, now contained all the salt of seawater but not, of course, the water. Already severely dehydrated, the men were, in effect, pouring gasoline on the fire of their thirsts—forcing their kidneys to extract additional fluid from their bodies to excrete the salt. They were beginning to suffer from a condition known as hypernatremia, in which an excessive amount of sodium can bring on convulsions."

    --Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, 116

    May 1, 2008

  • Definitely. *shudders*

    May 1, 2008