Electrolytes

Electrolytes are required for basic life functions like maintaining electrical neutrality in cells and generating and conducting action potentials in nerves and muscles. Along with magnesium, calcium, phosphate, and bicarbonates, the major electrolytes are sodium, potassium, and chloride. Electrolytes are derived from our food and bodily fluids.

These electrolytes can become unbalanced, resulting in either high or low levels. Electrolyte levels that are too high or too low disrupt normal bodily functions and can lead to life-threatening complications. The basic physiology of electrolytes and their abnormalities, as well as the consequences of electrolyte imbalance, are covered in this article.

What is Electrolytes?

The term “electrolyte” refers to particles that have a positive or negative electric charge. The term electrolyte in nutrition refers to essential minerals found in your blood, sweat, and urine. When these minerals dissolve in water, they produce electrolytes, which are positive or negative ions that are used in metabolic processes.

Among the electrolytes found in your body are:

• Sodium

• Potassium

• Chloride

• Calcium

• Magnesium

• Phosphate

• Bicarbonate

These electrolytes are necessary for a variety of bodily processes, including proper nerve and muscle function, acid-base balance, and staying hydrated.

Functions of Electrolytes:

Electrolytes are important because they are what your cells (particularly nerve, heart, and muscle) use to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses (nerve impulses, muscle contractions) across and to other cells. Your kidneys work to maintain constant electrolyte concentrations in your blood despite changes in your body.

For example, when you exercise vigorously, your sweat contains electrolytes, particularly sodium and potassium. These electrolytes must be replaced in order to maintain constant electrolyte concentrations in your body fluids.

What are the key Electrolytes components?

Your body requires several key elements to maintain normal electrolyte levels. The sections that follow include the major elements, marked as positive (+) or negative (-), as well as what happens when there is too much or too little of that element.

1. SODIUM (+)

Sodium is essential for your cells to maintain the proper fluid balance. It is also used to aid nutrient absorption in cells. It is the most abundant electrolyte ion in the human body.

• Hypernatremia (too much sodium): This condition can result in confusion or behavioural changes, unusually strong reflexes and loss of muscle control, seizures, and coma.

• Hyponatremia (low sodium levels) causes confusion, irritability, weakened reflexes, nausea and vomiting, seizures, and coma.

2. MAGNESIUM (+)

Magnesium aids your cells in the process of converting nutrients into energy. Your brain and muscles rely heavily on magnesium to function properly.

• Hypermagnesemia (excess magnesium): arrhythmias and changes in heart rhythm, weakened reflexes, decreased ability to breathe, and cardiac arrest (your heart stops).

• Hypomagnesemia (lack of magnesium) causes muscle weakness, twitching, and loss of control, as well as heart arrhythmias. This is common in people who are deficient in calcium and potassium.

3. POTASSIUM (+)

Potassium and sodium are both used by your cells. A potassium ion leaves a cell when a sodium ion enters it, and vice versa. Potassium is also extremely important for heart function. Too much or too little of either can lead to serious heart problems.

• Weakness, inability to move muscles, confusion, and irregular heart rhythms are all symptoms of hyperkalemia (too much potassium) (arrhythmias).

• Hypokalemia (inadequate potassium): Muscle weakness and cramping, unusual thirst and frequent need to pee, dizziness or passing out when standing up too quickly. At higher levels, muscle tissue begins to degrade (a condition known as rhabdomyolysis, which can cause severe kidney damage) and heart arrhythmias become a serious threat.

4. CALCIUM (+)

Calcium is an important mineral in your body, but it does more than just help you build strong bones and teeth. It is also used to control your muscles, send signals through your nerves, manage your heart rhythm, and other functions. Too much or too little calcium in your blood can cause a variety of symptoms in your body’s various systems.

Hypercalcemia (too much calcium)

• Headache, fatigue, apathy, and confusion are all symptoms of the brain.

• Constipation, abdominal pain, and vomiting are symptoms of the digestive tract.

• Kidney problems include frequent urination, kidney stones, and kidney failure.

• Arrhythmias of the heart, some of which can be severe, Skeletal pain refers to pain in the bones and joints.

Hypocalcemia (not enough calcium)

• Confusion and behavioural changes in the brain

• Muscles: Unusual strong reflexes and loss of muscle control, muscle twitching, spasms in the throat muscles that make it difficult to speak or breathe.

5. CHLORIDE (-)

Chloride (the name for a chlorine ion) is the body’s second most abundant ion. It’s also an important part of how your cells maintain their internal and external fluid balance. It also helps to maintain the body’s natural pH balance.

Hyperchloremia (too much chloride)

This can lead to acidosis, a condition in which your blood’s acidity is abnormally high. It causes nausea, vomiting, fatigue, rapid, deeper breathing, and confusion. This usually occurs as a result of having too much or too little potassium.

• When hyperkalemia is present: When there is too much potassium in the body, it can cause severe kidney problems or kidney failure.

• When associated with hypokalemia: When associated with insufficient potassium, it can cause diarrhoea, pancreatic fluid leakage, and other serious urinary tract problems.

Hypochloremia (not enough chloride)

As a result, your blood becomes more alkaline, a condition known as alkalosis. It usually occurs as a result of hyponatremia or vomiting. Apathy, confusion, arrhythmias, and muscle twitching or loss of control are all symptoms of alkalosis.

6. PHOSPHATE (-)

Phosphate is a phosphorus-based molecule that plays an important role in the transport of chemical compounds and molecules outside of your cells. It aids in the metabolization of nutrients in your cells and is also a component of nucleotide molecules, which are the building blocks of your DNA.

• Hyperphosphatemia (too much phosphate): This usually results in hypocalcemia because your body tries to replace phosphorus with calcium. It usually does not cause symptoms until it becomes severe, and symptoms of hypocalcemia are frequently associated with it. It may also be accompanied by excessive itching.

• Hypophosphatemia (inadequate phosphate): Muscle weakness is usually the first symptom of this condition. As the condition worsens, more severe symptoms emerge.They include rhabdomyolysis (muscle tissue breakdown, which can cause severe kidney damage), seizures, decreased heart function, and difficulty breathing (caused by muscle weakness).

7. BICARBONATE (-)

Not all of the carbon dioxide produced by your body is delivered to your lungs for expulsion. Instead, some of it is recycled into bicarbonate, which your body uses to maintain normal blood pH levels.

• Acidosis. Acidosis occurs when your blood becomes too acidic due to a lack of bicarbonate. This causes fatigue, nausea, and vomiting, as well as faster and deeper breathing. It can also be perplexing.

• Alkalosis. Alkalosis occurs when your blood becomes too alkaline due to an excess of bicarbonate. Confusion, apathy, arrhythmias, and muscle twitching are some of the symptoms.

Conclusion

Electrolytes are required for basic life functions like maintaining electrical neutrality in cells and generating and conducting action potentials in nerves and muscles. Along with magnesium, calcium, phosphate, and bicarbonates, the major electrolytes are sodium, potassium, and chloride. Electrolytes are important because they are what your cells (particularly nerve, heart, and muscle) use to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses (nerve impulses, muscle contractions) across and to other cells.