👤 🧝🏽 👨‍✈️ Water-salt metabolism of a person: functions, violation and regulation 🚐 🤱🏻 🖕

The normal functioning of the human body is an extremely complex set of many processes, one of which is water-salt metabolism. When he is in a normal state, a person is in no hurry to improve his own health, but as soon as there are really noticeable deviations, many immediately try to apply various measures. To prevent this from happening, it is best to understand in advance what water-salt metabolism is, and for what reason it is so important to maintain it in good condition. Also in this article we will consider its main violations and recovery methods.

What is it?

Water-salt metabolism is the combination of electrolytes and fluids entering the body, as well as the main features of their absorption and further distribution in internal tissues, organs, media, as well as all kinds of processes for their removal from the human body.

Everyone knows that people themselves are more than half water, since childhood, and it’s quite interesting that the total amount of fluid in our body changes and is determined by a fairly large number of factors, including age, total fat mass, as well as the number of those electrolytes. If a newborn person consists of water by approximately 77%, then an adult male includes only 61%, and women - 54% at all. Such a low water content in the body of women is due to the fact that they have a slightly different water-salt metabolism, and also there is a fairly large number of fat cells.

Key Features

The total amount of fluid in the human body is set approximately as follows:

Approximately 65% is diverted to intracellular fluid, as well as bound to phosphate and potassium, which are anion and cation, respectively.
Approximately 35% is extracellular fluid, which is mainly located in the vascular bed and is a tissue and interstitial fluid.

Among other things, it is worth noting the fact that the water in the human body is in a free state, is constantly held by colloids or is directly involved in the formation and breakdown of protein, fat and carbohydrate molecules. Different tissues have a different ratio of bound, free and constitutional water, which also directly affects the regulation of water-salt metabolism.

In comparison with blood plasma, as well as a special intercellular fluid, tissue differs in the presence of a sufficiently large number of magnesium, potassium and phosphate ions, as well as a not so high concentration of calcium, sodium, chlorine and special bicarbonate ions. This difference is due to the fact that the capillary wall for proteins has a fairly low permeability.

The correct regulation of water-salt metabolism in healthy people provides not only the maintenance of a constant composition, but also the necessary volume of body fluids, maintaining acid-base balance, as well as an almost identical concentration of the necessary osmotically active substances.

Regulation

You need to understand how water-salt metabolism works. The regulation functions are carried out by several physiological systems. First, specialized receptors respond to all kinds of changes in the concentration of osmotically active substances, ions, electrolytes, as well as the volume of fluid present. Subsequently, the signals are sent to the central nervous system of a person, and only then the body begins to change the consumption of water, as well as the release of it and the necessary salts, and thus regulate the water-salt metabolism system.

The elimination of ions, water and electrolytes by the kidneys is under the direct control of the nervous system and a number of hormones. In the process of regulation of water-salt metabolism, physiologically active substances produced in the kidney also take part. The total sodium content inside the body is constantly regulated mainly by the kidneys, which are under the control of the central nervous system, through specialized natrioreceptors, constantly responding to the occurrence of any changes in the sodium content inside body fluids, as well as osmoreceptors and volume receptors, which continuously analyze the osmotic pressure of the extracellular, as well as the circulating volume liquids.

The central nervous system, which uses various hormones of water-salt metabolism, as well as all kinds of corticosteroids, including insulin and aldosterone, is responsible for the regulation of potassium metabolism within the human body.

Regulation of the exchange of chlorine directly depends on the quality of the kidneys, and its ions are excreted in the majority of cases along with urine from the body. The total amount of sodium chloride excreted directly depends on the person’s diet, activity of sodium reabsorption, acid-base balance, condition of the tubular apparatus of the kidneys, as well as the mass of other elements. Chloride exchange is directly related to water exchange, therefore, the regulation of water-salt metabolism in the body affects many other factors of the normal functioning of various systems.

What is considered the norm?

A huge number of different physiological processes taking place inside our body directly depend on the total amount of salts and liquids. At the moment, it is known that in order to prevent a violation of water-salt metabolism, a person needs to drink about 30 ml of water per kilogram of body weight per day. This amount is enough to supply our body with the right amounts of minerals. At the same time, water will spill over various cells, vessels, tissues and joints, as well as dissolve and subsequently wash out all kinds of vital products. In the predominant majority of cases, the average number of water consumed per day in a person practically does not exceed two and a half liters, and such a volume is often formed approximately like this:

up to 1 liter we get from food;
up to 1.5 liters - by drinking plain water;
0.3-0.4 liters - the formation of oxidation water.

Regulation of water-salt metabolism in the body directly depends on the balance between the amount of its intake, as well as the allocation for a certain period of time. If during the day the body needs to get about 2.5 liters, then in this case about the same amount will be excreted from the body.

Water-salt metabolism in the human body is regulated by a whole complex of all kinds of neuroendocrine reactions, which are mainly aimed at constantly maintaining a stable volume, as well as the osmotic pressure of the extracellular sector, and, most importantly, blood plasma. Despite the fact that various mechanisms of correction of these parameters are autonomous, both of them are of extremely high importance.

Due to such regulation, the most stable level of concentration of ions and electrolytes contained in the extracellular and intracellular fluid is maintained. Among the main cations of the body, it is worth highlighting potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium, while the anions are bicarbonate, chlorine, sulfate and phosphate.

Violations

It cannot be said which gland is involved in water-salt metabolism, since a huge number of the most diverse organs take part in this process. For this reason, in the process of the body’s work, a wide variety of violations can be manifested that testify to this problem, among which are the following:

the occurrence of edema;
the accumulation of a large amount of fluid inside the body or, conversely, its deficiency;
imbalance in electrolytes;
increase or decrease in osmotic blood pressure;
change in acid-base state ;
increase or decrease in the concentration of any particular ions.

Case studies

It must be correctly understood that many organs are involved in the regulation of water-salt metabolism, therefore, in the overwhelming majority of cases, it is not immediately possible to establish a specific cause of the problem. Basically, the water balance is directly determined by how much water is introduced and removed from our body, and any disturbances in this metabolism are directly related to the electrolyte balance and begin to manifest themselves in the form of hydration and dehydration. The extreme expression of excess is edema, that is, too much fluid is contained in various tissues of the body, intercellular spaces and serous cavities, which is accompanied by disturbances in the electrolyte balance.

Moreover , dehydration, in turn, is divided into two main types:

without an equivalent amount of cations, in which continuous thirst is felt, and the water contained in the cells enters the interstitial space;
with loss of sodium, which comes directly from extracellular fluid and is usually not accompanied by thirst.

All kinds of water balance disturbances are manifested when the total volume of circulating fluid decreases or increases. Its excessive increase is often manifested due to hydremia, that is, an increase in the total amount of water in the blood.

Sodium exchange

Knowledge of various pathological conditions in which changes occur in the ionic composition of blood plasma or the concentration of certain ions in it is important enough for differential diagnosis of a number of diseases. All kinds of disturbances in the sodium metabolism in the body appear to be its excess, deficiency or various changes in its distribution throughout the body. The latter occurs in the presence of normal or altered amounts of sodium.

Deficiency may be:

True. It occurs due to the loss of both water and sodium, which often manifests itself when there is insufficient intake of sodium chloride in the body, as well as excessive sweating, polyuria, extensive burns, intestinal obstruction, and many other processes.
Relative. It can develop against the background of excessive administration of aqueous solutions at a rate that exceeds the excretion of water by the kidneys.

Excess also varies in a similar way:

True. It is the reason for the introduction of any salt solutions to the patient, too much consumption of ordinary table salt, all kinds of delays in the excretion of sodium by the kidneys, as well as excessive production or too long glucocorticoids.
Relative. Often observed in the presence of dehydration and is a direct cause of hyperhydration and the further development of all kinds of edema.

Recovery

Water-salt metabolism of the kidneys can be normalized using specialized pharmaceutical preparations that are developed specifically to change the total content of electrolytes, water, and hydrogen ions. Support and adjustment of the main factors of homeostasis is due to the interconnected work of the excretory, endocrine and respiratory systems. Any, even the most insignificant changes in the content of water or electrolytes can lead to quite serious consequences, some of which even threaten human life.

What is prescribed?

To normalize the water-salt metabolism of a person, you can use the following:

Magnesium and potassium aspartate. In the predominant majority of cases, it is prescribed solely as an adjunct to the main therapy in the event of heart failure, various cardiac arrhythmias or the occurrence of myocardial infarction. It is easily absorbed when taken orally, after which it is excreted by the kidneys.
Sodium bicarbonate. It is mainly prescribed in the presence of peptic ulcer of the duodenum and stomach, metabolic acidosis, as well as gastritis with high acidity, which occurs when intoxication, infections or diabetes, as well as during the postoperative period. It quickly enough neutralizes hydrochloric acids of gastric juice, and also provides an extremely fast antacid effect and increases the total secretion of gastrin along with secondary activation of secretion.
Sodium chloride. It is taken in the presence of large losses of extracellular fluid or in the presence of its insufficient intake. Also quite often, doctors recommend using it for hyponatremia, hypochloremia, intestinal obstruction, and all kinds of intoxications. This tool has a rehydrating and detoxifying effect, and also provides restoration of sodium deficiency in the presence of various pathological conditions.
Sodium citrate. Used to ensure stabilization of blood counts. It is a binder for calcium, as well as a hemocoagulation inhibitor. It further increases the total sodium content in the body and increases alkaline reserves of blood, which provides a positive effect.
Hydroxyethyl starch. It is used during operations, as well as for burns, injuries, acute blood loss and all kinds of infectious diseases.

Thus, you can normalize the water-salt metabolism and return the body to a normal state. Only a highly qualified doctor should choose a specific course of treatment, since independently you can significantly worsen the condition.

Water-salt metabolism of a person: functions, violation and regulation