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Beer Potomania: A Challenging Case Of Hyponatremia, Hind Rafei, Raza Yunus, Parvinder S. Khurana

Medicine Faculty Publications

Beer potomania is a syndrome of hyponatremia associated with excessive beer drinking. Little or no salt content of beer results in marked reduction in the solute load to the kidney. This leads to impaired water clearance and dilutional hyponatremia. A 66-year-old man with history of alcoholism and alcoholic cardiomyopathy presented to the emergency room with tremors of his upper and lower extremities. He had a significant history of alcohol consumption, usually drinking 4 - 5 cans of beer per night for the past 34 years. In addition, he had consumed a fifth of a vodka bottle the day before presentation. …