The Woman's Doctor: 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. Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Ernestine Wright, said 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 extra cellular fluid," Wright said.