physiology facts: BODY FLUIDS

CONTENTS OF BODY FLUIDS
Body fluids can either be intracellular or extracellular.Intracellular fluids are those found within the cell while the extracellular fluids are found outside the cell.The extracellular fluids consists of plasma and interstitial fluids.

CONTENTS OF INTRACELLULAR FLUIDS
-Water
-Proteins
-Potassium
-Electrolytes

CONTENTS OF EXTRACELLULAR FLUID
-Proteins
-Chlorine
-Sodium
-Calcium

Image result for intracellular fluid contents pics

Image result for intracellular fluid contents pics

Two thirds of the body fluids is intracellular fluid,and the rest is extracellular fluid.Also in the extracellular fluid 80% is the interstitial fluid and the remaining 20% is the plasma.
The amount of the fluids in the compartments may vary due to the movement of fluids from one compartment to another due to the difference in concentrations.http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-different-types-of-body-fluids.htm.

ESTIMATION OF BODY FLUIDS VOLUME

Estimation of body fluid volume in hyponatremia is useful for diagnosis and therapeutic decision-making. Physical examination has been generally used to estimate body fluid volume, but it depends on the physician's abilities. Bioimpedance spectroscopy has been suggested to be a reliable method for the estimation of body fluid volume. Therefore, this study investigated whether bioimpedance spectroscopy could replace physical examination in hyponatremia.

Materials and Methods

The study included 30 patients with hyponatremia. At the time of the initial visit, body fluid volume was estimated simultaneously by both physical examination and bioimpedance spectroscopy. Estimation of body fluid status by clinical diagnosis was performed as well, which determined body fluid status corresponds with the most likely cause of hyponatremia (clinical body fluid estimation).

Results

The results of body fluid volume estimated by physical examination, bioimpedance spectroscopy, and clinical body fluid estimation showed that 9, 10, and 9 patients, respectively, were hypervolemic; 13, 15 and 16 patients, respectively, were euvolemic; and 8, 5, and 5 patients, respectively, were hypovolemic. Cohen's kappa analysis showed a significant agreement between physical examination and bioimpedance spectroscopy (kappa coefficient, 0.632, p<0.001). In addition, bioimpedance spectroscopy showed a higher level of agreement with clinical body fluid estimation than physical examination (kappa coefficient, 0.602 vs. 0.524).

Image result for body fluids measurement pics

BODY FLUID AND ELECTROLYTES BALANCE

Electrolytes are minerals in your body that have an electric charge. They are in your blood, urine and body fluids. Maintaining the right balance of electrolytes helps your body's blood chemistry, muscle action and other processes. Sodium, calcium, potassium, chlorine, phosphate and magnesium are all electrolytes. You get them from the foods you eat and the fluids you drink.
Levels of electrolytes in your body can become too low or too high. That can happen when the amount of water in your body changes, causing dehydration or overhydration. Causes include some medicines, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating or kidney problems. Problems most often occur with levels of sodium, potassium or calcium

BODY FLUIDS BALANCE DISORDERS
Every part of your body needs water to function. When you are healthy, your body is able to balance the amount of water that enters or leaves your body.
A fluid imbalance may occur when you lose more water or fluid than your body can take in. It can also occur when you take in more water or fluid than your body is able to get rid of.

Causes

Your body is constantly losing water through breathing, sweating, and urinating. If you do not take in enough fluids or water, you become dehydrated.
Your body may also have a hard time getting rid of fluids. As a result, excess fluid builds up in the body. This is called fluid overload (volume overload). This can lead to edema (excess fluid in the skin and tissues).
Many medical problems can cause fluid imbalance:

After surgery, the body usually retains large amounts of fluid for several days, causing swelling of the body.
In heart failure, fluid collects in the lungs, liver, blood vessels, and body tissues because the heart does a poor job of pumping it to the kidneys.
When the kidneys do not work well because of chronic kidney disease, the body cannot get rid of unneeded fluids.
The body may lose too much fluid due to diarrhea, vomiting, severe blood loss, or high fever.
Lack of a hormone called antidiuretic hormone (ADH) can cause the kidneys to get rid of too much fluid. This results in extreme thirst and dehydration.

Often, a high or low level of sodium or potassium is present as well.
Medicines can also affect fluid balance. The most common are water pills (diuretics) to treat blood pressure.

Treatment

Treatment depends on the specific condition that is causing the fluid imbalance.

EDEMA
Edema is a swelling, usually of the legs, feet, and/or hands due to the accumulation of excessive fluid in the tissues.

The edema that occurs in diseases of the heart, liver, and kidneys is mainly caused by salt retention, which holds the excess fluid in the body.

In certain liver and kidney diseases, low levels of albumin in the blood can contribute to fluid retention.

Heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver, venous insufficiency, and a kidney disease called nephrotic syndrome are the most common systemic diseases that cause edema.

Excess fluid that accumulates in the lungs is called pulmonary edema.

Excess fluid that accumulates in the abdominal cavity is called ascites.

Edema of unknown cause (idiopathic edema) occurs primarily in women.

Varicose veins or thrombophlebitis (a blood clot in an inflamed vein) of the deep veins in the legs causes edema that is localized to the legs.

Therapy for edema consists of treating the underlying conditions, restricting salt intake, compression stockings, elevation of the extremity, and often using diuretics (medicines that induce urination).