Is the sodium in sodium oxybate a risk for heart health? A plain language summary of publication

Abstract

What is this summary about? Sodium oxybate is a medicine for narcolepsy symptoms. It contains a high level of sodium. Should people taking sodium oxybate and their doctors worry about the sodium increasing their risk of heart or cardiovascular problems? This is a summary of an article that reviewed 20 years of published data to answer that question. What were the results? We found that sodium oxybate was not linked to cardiovascular risks, such as heart attacks or strokes. What do the results mean? This suggests that the sodium in sodium oxybate may not add cardiovascular risk for people with narcolepsy. People currently taking sodium oxybate should talk to their doctor to ask if they need to be concerned about the sodium in their medicine. People who take sodium oxybate are unlikely to need to change their sodium oxybate medicine because of the sodium.