physiology Flashcards
what is osmolarity?
-a concentration of osmotically active particles present in a solution
what are the units of osmolarity?
osmol/l or osmol/l
mosmol/l for body fluids as these are weak salt solutions
how can osmolarity be calculated?
It can be calculated if two factors are know:
- the molar concentration of the solution and
- the number of osmotically active particles present
what is the difference between osmolality and osmolarity?
- osmolality has units of osmol/kg of water
- osmolarity has units of osmol/l
what is the osmolarity of body fluids?
approx 300 mosmol/l
what is tonicity?
-the effect a solution has on cell volume
what is isotonic solution?
one where there is no change in cell volume if you were to insert or add a cell to the solution
what is a hypotonic solution?
a solution that causes a cell to increase in cell volume
what is a hypertonic solution?
the solution causes a decrease in cell volume
what % of body weight does total body water take up?
males= roughly 60% of body weight females= roughly 50% of body weight
this is due to women having more fat and fat has very little water
what does total body water consist of?
intracellular fluid (ICF) = 67% of total body water
extracellular fluid (ECF) = 33% of total body water
what does extracellular fluid include?
- plasma
- interstitial fluid
- lymph and transcellular fluid
what is a tracer for measuring ECF?
inulin
what is a tracer for measuring plasma?
labelled albumin
what is a tracer for measuring total body water?
3H2O
how is total body water calculated?
TBW= ECF + ICF
How is volume of distribution calculated?
how is the distribution volume of a tracer measured?
what is needed to maintain homeostasis?
input must match the output
input (s)= output (s)
what is water imbalance manifested in?
-as changes in body fluid osmolarity
what are insensible losses of water in the body?
- losses of water from the body where there are no physiological mechanisms that can stop it
- e.g. skin always losing water due to diffusion to the environment, lungs when you lose water exhaling
- skin, lungs
what are sensible losses of water in the body?
- loss of water from the body through which there are physiological mechanisms in place and can control
- e.g. sweat can be controlled by doing less exercise or changing jumper, faeces through diarrhoea, urine through dehydration decreasing urinary output or being overhydrated and increasing urinary output
- sweat, faeces, urine
how is water balance maintained?
- by increasing water ingestion
- decreased excretion of water by the kidneys alone is not enough to maintain water balance
what ions are found in ICF and ECF?
important:
- more sodium, chloride and bicarbonate ions in the ECF compared to the ICF
- more potassium ions in the ICF compared to the ECF