Increased ambient temperature and hyponatraemia presentations: A ten-year retrospective study at an Australian hospital.

Objectives: To determine the relationship between ambient air temperature and the incidence of hyponatraemia in a heat-prone region.

Design And Setting: We conducted a retrospective study that correlated serum sodium concentrations documented at The Austin Hospital in Melbourne over ten years from January 2014 to December 2023, with publicly available temperature data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

Main Outcome Measures: Serum sodium concentrations and incidence of hyponatraemia admissions when correlated to temperature, and following heatwave events, defined as temperature above 30°C over five consecutive days.

The evolutionary consequences of interactions between the epigenome, the genome and the environment.

The epigenome is the suite of interacting chemical marks and molecules that helps to shape patterns of development, phenotypic plasticity and gene regulation, in part due to its responsiveness to environmental stimuli. There is increasing interest in understanding the functional and evolutionary importance of this sensitivity under ecologically realistic conditions. Observations that epigenetic variation abounds in natural populations have prompted speculation that it may facilitate evolutionary responses to rapid environmental perturbations, such as those occurring under climate change.

A retrospective review of the short Synacthen test in Queensland hospitals.

Background: The short Synacthen test (SST) is widely used to investigate adrenal insufficiency, but it can be time-consuming, costly and labour-intensive to perform and is not without risk of adverse events.

Aim: To review SST requesting patterns and practices across public hospitals in Queensland.

Methods: The electronic medical records of patients who underwent a SST with Pathology Queensland between January 2020 and December 2020 were reviewed to collect data regarding the indication for the test, the requesting speciality, SST results and any adverse events.

Dysnatremia in a changing climate: A global systematic review of the association between serum sodium and ambient temperature.

Objective: Both hyponatremia and hypernatremia have been reported to occur more frequently with higher ambient temperatures, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Global temperatures are rising due to climate change, which may impact the incidence of dysnatremia worldwide. We aimed to identify, collate and critically appraise studies analyzing the relationship between climate measures (outdoor temperature, humidity) and serum sodium concentrations.