hyponatremia and hypernatremia?

Definitionally, that's it.

Clinically, a hypernatremia with a serum sodium of, say 165 meq/l represents a significant loss of free water more than sodium, and there's a significant mortality associated. Aggressive fluid resuscitation is the norm, beginning with 0.9% saline solution (hypotonic fluids are a rookie's error).

An equivalent degree of hyponatremia, with a serum sodium of 125 meq/l, is not nearly so disturbing clinically, and may represent salt-wasting, but is usually a case of normal total body sodium with an excess of free water diluting it, as with the syndrome of inappropriate ADH secretion or with pathologic water-drinking. Only with profoundly low sodium levels, in the range of 110 meq/l, does one usually see seizures and other such unpleasantries, so fluid restriction without a lot of aggressive therapy is the usual course, with hypertonic saline infusions used only in the most extreme cases.

There are some great on-line medical dictionaries that are accessible and can help you answer this question. I'm currently enrolled in a medical terminology course and I know that the prefix hyper- means excessive or above and the prefix hypo- means deficient or under. Much success.

Hyper means you have too sodium and Hypo is too little sodium.

Hope that helps.

it refers to low and high serum sodium levels.funny thing is both can cause seizures and coma at a dangerous levels.

One is cold and one is warm.