Conivaptan and an initial study shows that it has some promise. Conivaptan is most commonly used in the hospital in cases of euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia, conditions where the sodium level in the blood falls significantly below normal. In the United States hyponatremia affects about four percent of hospitalized patients. Although many patients do not show symptoms, extreme cases may result in brain swelling, respiratory arrest and even death. Hypervolemic hyponatremia specifically is when the body’s serum sodium levels fall below the total body water increase, which results in edema. This is associated with congestive heart failure, liver disease and kidney
Serum (blood) toxic response. Blood is centrifuged to remove cellular components. Anti-coagulated blood yields plasma containing fibrinogen and clotting factors. Coagulated blood (clotted blood) yields serum without fibrinogen, although some clotting factors remain. Serum is an essential factor for the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells in combination with the cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor. The serum of convalescent patients successfully recovering (or already recovered) from an infectious disease can be used as a biopharmaceutical in the treatment of other people with that disease, because the antibodies generated by the successful recovery are potent fighters of the pathogen. Such "convalescent serum" (antiserum) is a