Anatomy & Physiology
Fluid, Electrolyte, and pH Balance
1. The maintenance of normal volume and composition of extracellular and intracellular fluids is vital to life. List and briefly describe the kinds of homeostasis involved.
In males and females, intracellular fluid has a greater proportion of total body water than does extracellular fluid. Give-and-take between the ICF and the ECF happens across plasma membranes by osmosis, diffusion, and carrier-mediated transport.
The kinds of homeostasis involved are fluid Balance, electrolyte Balance, and Acid–Base Balance.
Fluid balance is when the quantity of water we gain each day is equivalent to the amount we lose to the environment. The upkeep of normal fluid balance includes regulating the content and sharing of body water in the ECF and the ICF. The digestive system is the main source of water gains; a small amount of extra water is generated by metabolic activity.
With electrolyte balance, it involves balancing the amounts of absorption across the digestive tract with amounts of loss at the kidneys. Everyday our body fluids gain electrolytes from drinks or foods we take in, and in turn, loose them through urinating, sweating and defecating. “If the gains and losses for every electrolyte are in balance, you are said to be in electrolyte balance.”
We are in acid–base balance when the making of hydrogen ions in our body is exactly offset by their loss. When acid–base balance occurs, the pH of body fluids stays within normal limits. Stopping a reduction in pH is the main problem, because our body produces a variety of acids during normal metabolic tasks.
2. Why does maintaining fluid balance in older people require a higher water intake than in a normal, healthy adult under age 40?
Water encompasses 55% in elderly people and is vital for cellular homeostasis and life. With respect to heat stress, water lost through perspiring decreases water content of plasma, and the elderly are less capable to compensate for amplified
1. The maintenance of normal volume and composition of extracellular and intracellular fluids is vital to life. List and briefly describe the kinds of homeostasis involved.
In males and females, intracellular fluid has a greater proportion of total body water than does extracellular fluid. Give-and-take between the ICF and the ECF happens across plasma membranes by osmosis, diffusion, and carrier-mediated transport.
The kinds of homeostasis involved are fluid Balance, electrolyte Balance, and Acid–Base Balance.
Fluid balance is when the quantity of water we gain each day is equivalent to the amount we lose to the environment. The upkeep of normal fluid balance includes regulating the content and sharing of body water in the ECF and the ICF. The digestive system is the main source of water gains; a small amount of extra water is generated by metabolic activity.
With electrolyte balance, it involves balancing the amounts of absorption across the digestive tract with amounts of loss at the kidneys. Everyday our body fluids gain electrolytes from drinks or foods we take in, and in turn, loose them through urinating, sweating and defecating. “If the gains and losses for every electrolyte are in balance, you are said to be in electrolyte balance.”
We are in acid–base balance when the making of hydrogen ions in our body is exactly offset by their loss. When acid–base balance occurs, the pH of body fluids stays within normal limits. Stopping a reduction in pH is the main problem, because our body produces a variety of acids during normal metabolic tasks.
2. Why does maintaining fluid balance in older people require a higher water intake than in a normal, healthy adult under age 40?
Water encompasses 55% in elderly people and is vital for cellular homeostasis and life. With respect to heat stress, water lost through perspiring decreases water content of plasma, and the elderly are less capable to compensate for amplified