PLASMA SODIUM-IGNORED AND UNDERESTIMATED

Plasma sodium: ignored and underestimated.

Salt intake is a major regulator of blood pressure. There is evidence that those who develop high blood pressure have an underlying defect in the ability of the kidney to excrete salt. It has been suggested that this results in a greater tendency to retain sodium and an increased compensatory response that is responsible for the rise in blood pressure. There is also evidence suggesting that sma...

Magnesium: A Mineral Essential for Health Yet Generally Underestimated or Even Ignored

Magnesium is the fourth most common mineral in the human body after calcium, potassium and sodium. Magnesium must be continuously replenished through foods and water intake because it is not synthesizable. Chronic inadequate intake of magnesium over long period of time can manifest as latent magnesium deficiency with symptoms such as muscle weakness, cramps, fatigue, neurological and cardiovasc...

Ignored Architecture, Ignored Architect

Let's face it: Having to deal with a software architect can be, well, also funny – but not necessarily constructive. Any influential person is highly visible and evokes emotional reactions. Personality clashes can lead to mutual ignorance, and team members might deliberately choose to ignore the architect at least occasionally. Sometimes the architecture itself gives good reasons to ignore it. ...

The Importance of Education for Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa is Substantially Underestimated When Community Effects are Ignored

Disorders of plasma sodium.

To the Editor: The review by Sterns (Jan. 1 issue)1 on disorders of plasma sodium concentration, which are among the most frequently encountered (and mismanaged) problems in medicine, was enhanced by the use of illustrative cases (which appear in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of the article at NEJM.org). After the second patient had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, plasma h...