Other sodium deficiencies can result from heavy sweating, or with severe dietary restriction, i.e. low sodium formulas fed to infants caused their brains to swell, causing death. Sodium plays a vital role in controlling osmotic pressure, which develops between the blood and cells due to ionic concentration differences, and it assists in maintaining the proper acid-base balance by balancing charges of negatively charged ions such as chloride, phosphate and bicarbonate... Full Text