Sodium And Potassium Level In Human Body – The body contains a variety of ions, or electrolytes, that perform various functions. Certain ions help transmit electrical impulses across cell membranes in neurons and muscles. Other ions help stabilize protein structures in enzymes. Still others help release hormones from the endocrine glands. All the ions in the plasma contribute to osmotic balance, which regulates the movement of water between cells and their environment.

Electrolytes in living systems include sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, phosphate, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, molybdenum, copper, and chromium. Six electrolytes are the most important for the functioning of the body: sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium and phosphate.

Sodium And Potassium Level In Human Body

These six ions aid in nerve excitability, endocrine secretion, membrane permeability, buffer body fluids, and regulate fluid movement between compartments. These ions enter the body through the digestive system. More than 90 percent of the calcium and phosphate entering the body is incorporated into the bones and teeth, and the bone serves as a mineral reserve for these ions. When calcium and phosphate are needed for other functions, bone tissue can be broken down to supply blood and other tissues with these minerals. Phosphate is a normal constituent of nucleic acids; therefore, blood phosphate levels increase each time the nucleic acids are degraded.

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Ions are excreted mainly through the kidneys, with smaller amounts lost in sweat and feces. Excessive sweating can cause significant losses, especially of sodium and chloride. Severe vomiting or diarrhea causes loss of chloride and bicarbonate ions. Adjusting respiratory and kidney function allows the body to regulate the levels of these ions in the ECF.

26.1. table lists blood plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and urine reference values ​​for the six ions discussed in this section. In a clinical setting, sodium, potassium and chloride are usually analyzed in a routine urine sample. In contrast, calcium and phosphate analysis requires a 24-hour urine collection, as the excretion of these ions can vary significantly throughout the day. Urine values ​​reflect the rate of excretion of these ions. Bicarbonate is the only ion that is not normally excreted in the urine; instead, it is conserved by the kidneys for use in the body’s buffer system.

Sodium is the main cation of the extracellular fluid. It is responsible for half of the osmotic pressure gradient between the inside of cells and the surrounding environment. People who eat a typical Western diet, which is very high in NaCl, routinely consume 130-160 mmol of sodium per day, but humans only need 1-2 mmol per day. This excess sodium appears to be a major factor in high blood pressure (hypertension) in some people. Sodium is excreted primarily through the kidneys. Sodium is freely filtered through the glomerular capillaries of the kidneys, and although most of the filtered sodium is reabsorbed in the proximal convoluted tubule, some remains in the filtrate and urine and is normally excreted.

Hyponatremia is a lower-than-normal concentration of sodium, usually associated with excessive water retention in the body, which dilutes the sodium. Absolute sodium loss can be caused by a decrease in the intake of the ion, as well as its continuous excretion in the urine. Abnormal loss of sodium from the body can occur due to a number of conditions, including excessive sweating, vomiting, or diarrhea; use of diuretics; excessive urine production, which can occur in diabetes; and acidosis, either metabolic acidosis or diabetic ketoacidosis.

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A relative decrease in blood sodium may be due to sodium imbalance in other body fluid spaces, such as the IF, or sodium dilution due to water retention due to edema or congestive heart failure. At the cellular level, hyponatremia results in increased osmotic entry of water into the cells, as the concentration of solutes within the cell exceeds the concentration of solutes in the already diluted ECF. Excess water causes cells to swell; swelling of red blood cells – reducing their oxygen-carrying efficiency and potentially becoming too large to fit through capillaries – and swelling of neurons in the brain can cause brain damage or even death.

Hypernatremia is an abnormal increase in sodium levels in the blood. This may be due to water loss from the blood, resulting in hemoconcentration of all blood components. This can lead to neuromuscular irritability, convulsions, central nervous system lethargy and coma. Hormonal imbalances affecting ADH and aldosterone can also result in higher than normal sodium levels.

Potassium is the most important intracellular cation. It helps to establish the resting membrane potential in neurons and muscle fibers after membrane depolarization and action potentials. Unlike sodium, potassium has very little effect on osmotic pressure. Low potassium levels in blood and CSF are due to sodium-potassium pumps in cell membranes that maintain a normal potassium concentration gradient between the ICF and ECF. The recommended daily intake/consumption of potassium is 4700 mg. Potassium is excreted both actively and passively through the renal tubules, particularly the distal convoluted tubules and collecting ducts. Potassium participates in the exchange with sodium in the renal tubules under the influence of aldosterone, which also relies on basolateral sodium-potassium pumps.

Hypokalemia is an abnormally low level of potassium in the blood. Like hyponatremia, hypokalemia can occur due to either an absolute decrease in body potassium or a relative decrease in potassium due to redistribution of potassium. Absolute potassium loss can result from reduced intake, which is often associated with starvation. Vomiting, diarrhea or alkalosis may also occur. Hypokalemia can cause metabolic acidosis, central nervous system confusion, and cardiac arrhythmias.

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Some insulin-dependent diabetics experience a relative decrease in potassium as a result of redistribution of potassium in the blood. When insulin is administered and cells take up glucose, potassium crosses the cell membrane with glucose, reducing blood potassium and IF, which can cause neuronal cell membranes to hyperpolarize, reducing responses to stimuli.

Hyperkalemia, an elevated level of potassium in the blood, can also damage the skeletal muscles, nervous system, and heart. Hyperkalemia can develop as a result of increased potassium intake. In such a situation, potassium from the blood enters the ECF in abnormally high concentrations. This can lead to partial depolarization (excitation) of the plasma membrane of skeletal muscle fibers, neurons, and cardiac cells of the heart, and also lead to the inability of cells to repolarize. For the heart, this means that it does not relax after contracting, but effectively “seizes” and stops pumping blood, which is fatal within minutes. Because of these effects on the nervous system, a person with hyperkalemia may also exhibit mental confusion, numbness, and weakened respiratory muscles.

Chloride is the predominant extracellular anion. Chloride is a major contributor to the osmotic pressure gradient between the ICF and ECF and plays an important role in maintaining adequate hydration. Chloride serves to balance the cations in the ECF, maintaining the fluid’s electrical neutrality. The route of secretion and reabsorption of chloride ions in the renal system follows the route of sodium ions.

Hypochloremia, or a lower-than-normal blood chloride level, can occur due to a defect in renal tubular absorption. Vomiting, diarrhea, and metabolic acidosis can also lead to hypochloremia. Hyperchloremia, i.e. a higher-than-normal blood chloride level, can develop due to dehydration, excessive dietary salt (NaCl) intake or seawater ingestion, aspirin poisoning, congestive heart failure, and hereditary, chronic lung disease, cystic fibrosis. People with cystic fibrosis have sweat chloride levels two to five times the normal level, and sweat analysis is often used to diagnose the disease.

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Bicarbonate is the second most abundant anion in blood. Its main function is to maintain the body’s acid-base balance by being part of the buffer system. This role will be discussed in another section.

) and water, two molecules that are produced at the end of aerobic metabolism. Only a small amount of CO

Two-way arrows indicate that reactions can proceed in either direction, depending on the concentrations of reactants and products. Carbon dioxide is produced in large quantities in tissues that have a high metabolism. Carbon dioxide is converted into hydrogen carbonate in the cytoplasm of red blood cells by the enzyme carbon dioxide anhydrase. Bicarbonate is transported in the blood. Once in the lungs, the reactions reverse and CO

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About two kilograms of calcium in the body is bound to the bones, which hardens the bone and serves as a mineral reserve for calcium and its salts for other tissues. The calcium content of teeth is also high. Slightly more than half of the calcium in the blood is bound to proteins, the rest remains in ionized form. Calcium ions, Ca

Necessary for muscle contraction, enzyme activity,

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