To detect and prevent diseases in the early stages, a blood test is done. The presence of chlorine in tissues is a significant marker of medical diagnosis. Blood biochemistry is very important for determining the general condition of the patient. Often prescribed an analysis for the level of chloride in the blood. What do its results mean? What to do if hyperemia or hypochloremia is detected?
Norms
Chlorine is a component that is part of not only gastric juice, but also intercellular fluid. This element is represented in the form of independent ions charged negatively (anions). Their functions are different, but the main thing is to maintain a hydrostatic effect and normal acid balance. Chlorine is ingested with food. The main organ of conservation is the skin, in the cells of which more than 50% of the incoming chlorine is stored. With the normal functioning of the human body, a change in chloride concentration is due to the maintenance of a neutral environment.
The normal saturation of chloride in the blood of adults is 98-107 mmol per liter. The constant maintenance of the water-salt balance is the main condition for the normal functioning of the body, so the blood composition must be stable. A continuous increase or decrease in the proportion of chlorine indicates the presence of pathology.
Indications for analysis
The object of biochemistry is 5-10 milliliters of blood (a sample taken on an empty stomach from a vein).
Analysis is prescribed for such purposes:
- Assess acid and electrolyte balance.
- Diagnose diseases of the kidneys and liver, accompanied by pathology of metabolism, convulsive conditions and pathologies of consciousness.
- To control the water-salt balance in patients undergoing long-term infusion therapy.
- Find out the indicators for diseases of an infectious and non-infectious nature, accompanied by long diarrhea and nausea.
The number of chlorides is evaluated in combination with the presence of sodium and potassium cations. The difference between the number of sodium contained (as the main blood cation) and the number of chlorine and bicarbonate contained is called the anion gap. This indicator, as a rule, is 8-16 mmol / l, and its excess of the norm indicates a strict non-compliance with the acid-base balance.
Hyperchloremia
Elevated chloride in the blood (hyperchloremia) is a deviation in which excess chlorine is traced.
There can be serious consequences for a person if he has consumed 15 grams of chlorine at a time. This is a serious indicator, since the component is toxic. It destroys healthy cells of the body, as a result, health disorders begin. If no action is taken, the person is diagnosed with dehydration. The following symptoms may indicate an increase in chlorine in the blood :
- Fluid retention.
- High blood pressure.
- Failures in the heart rhythm.
- Muscle weakness.
- Tingling in the muscles, numbness.
- Cramps.
Causes of High Chlorine Detected in the Blood
This phenomenon is observed in those who consume food or medicines, which contain an increased amount of this substance. Doctors proved that taking 15 g of chlorine at a time can cause intestinal infections, since this component is toxic.
There are two factors by which you can determine whether blood chlorides are elevated or not:
- Absolute.
- Relative.
The causes of the pathology are caused by dysfunction of the urinary and digestive systems. If the patient suffers from nephritis or nephrosis, then these pathologies lead to a delay in the tissues of fluid and salts, as a result of which they begin to accumulate over time.
The concentration of chlorine is increasing. Other reasons:
- High blood sodium.
- Malnutrition, fasting diets.
- Increased intake of salty foods.
- Dehydration
- Diabetes.
- Heart diseases.
- Renal failure.
- Treatment with some medicines.
Hypochloremia
The normal level of sodium chloride in the blood is approximately 98-107 mmol per liter. Dehydration is dangerous by the formation of blood clots inside the vessels. Reduced chlorides in the blood (hypochloremia) are observed with osmotic pressure in the presence of a violation of the alkaline acid balance in humans. An insufficient amount of chloride in the blood often appears in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, ulcer and others).
Lack of macronutrient causes the following symptoms:
- Vomiting
- Excessive sweating.
- Brittle hair, nails and teeth.
- Constipation
- Swelling
- Metabolic disorders.
- High blood pressure.
Also, with a lack of chlorine, muscle weakness with convulsive movements is observed, there is a respiratory failure, digestive problems appear. Therefore, the body directly orients the chlorides in the blood in the necessary direction to normalize well-being.
Causes and features of low chloride levels
Reliable data on signs of a lack of chlorine in humans does not exist, because laboratory studies were carried out only on rats.
The following symptoms may indicate a lack of chlorine:
- Unconditional exhaustion before the development of anorexia.
- A rare desire to defecate.
- Hair loss, and sometimes even teeth.
- The occurrence of edema.
- A serious jump in blood pressure up to skeptical highest levels (although it all depends on the characteristics of the body and its interaction on the lack of chlorine).
- The formation of alkalosis.
If a person began to lose weight very rapidly without obvious reasons, or if the hair became brittle, it would not be out of place to visit the clinic to do a blood test and to clarify the quantitative indicator of this microelement in the body.
Diagnostics
The determination of chloride in the blood is carried out by a blood test. It is taken from a vein on an empty stomach. The rate of chloride in the blood ranges from 98 to 107 mmol / liter.
Often requires additional examination of the condition of the kidneys and liver.
If the patient takes medications containing chlorine salts, such therapy should be interrupted before analysis. The time for how much you need to do this is determined by the period of elimination of the components of the drug from the body, which is indicated in the instructions for them. Also, the day before the blood test for chlorides, products with a high content of these elements should be excluded from the diet.
The table below shows how many chlorides are allowed to enter the body per day:
Deviations in one direction or another from the marked limits will affect the state of health.
Treatment to be given to the patient
To prevent excess chlorides, a balance of water consumption should be observed. Adults should drink about 2.5 liters of pure water per day. For children under 5 years, this figure is 500 ml, and for adolescents - 1 liter. Of course, this is an average. In the summer period and for people working in hot shops (bakeries, steelmakers, blacksmiths, etc.), the norm should be higher.
With a high chloride content, the patient is prescribed:
- Medications for nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
- Increased water intake (up to 3 liters per day).
- Prohibition of alcohol and caffeine.
- Treatment of underlying diseases (in case of diabetes, blood glucose control).
- If the patient is in serious condition, he is prescribed intravenous fluid administration.
- Diet.
When hypochloremia is prescribed drugs, including sodium chloride. In a serious condition of the patient they are administered intravenously (using a dropper). A diet is mandatory, which should include foods with a high chloride content.
Prevention
In order to avoid high or low levels of chloride in the blood, you need to abandon the consumption of salt in high quantities, drink at least 2.5 liters of pure non-carbonated water daily, treat diseases of internal organs and diabetes in time, and be examined on time. We offer a list of products that contain many chlorides:
- Olives.
- Celery.
- Tomatoes
- Salads of different varieties.
- Sausages, ham.
- Rye.
- Fast Food Food.
- Cheeses
- Peas.
- Buckwheat.
- Chicken eggs
- Fig.
- Some types of fish (mackerel, flounder, hake, capelin, tuna, crucian carp.
Focusing on this list, you can compile for yourself the right daily menu.