STUDY OF SODIUM AND POTASSIUM IMBALANCE IN NEWLY DIAGNOSED HYPERTENSION

BACKGROUND Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death and disability among adults all over the world. It remains the major risk factor for coronary, cerebral and peripheral vascular disease. Essential hypertension comprises more than 90% of hypertension. Hypertension is an emerging health problem in India. When majority of people come to know that they have hypertension they have already advanced into a stage with target organ damage- a fatal stroke or myocardial infarction or irreversible renal failure. Unfortunately, even in developed countries like United States, 50 million people have hypertension. Aim of the study-To study serum sodium and potassium levels and correlate them with the blood pressure in newly detected hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a cross sectional study conducted in the department of General Medicine at S. S. Medical College Rewa M. P. over a period of one year. Both inpatients and outpatients were included in the study. RESULTS In our study, out of 250 patients, 133 were in stage 1 hypertension (53.2%) and 102 patients were in stage 2 hypertension (40.8%). Very small proportions (6%) were having isolated systolic hypertension. Serum sodium was higher in both stage 1 & 2 hypertension and serum potassium was lower in both stage-1 & -2 hypertension. CONCLUSION Serum sodium was significantly higher among newly diagnosed hypertensives and also correlated positively with levels of blood pressure. Serum potassium was significantly less among newly diagnosed hypertensives and it correlated negatively with levels of blood pressure.