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
summary slide :0 xxx!
what is fluid shift?
-the movement of water between the ICF and ECF in response to an osmotic gradient
what occurs if the osmotic concentration of the ECF increases (the extracellular fluid would lose water but retain salt so the individual is dehydrated but no change in salt balance)?
ECF would become hypertonic compared to ICF
- this would cause movement of water from the cells into the ECF until osmotic balance has been restored
- this means cell volume would decrease and ECF would increase due to the fluid shift to try and restore osmotic balance
what occurs if the osmotic concnetration of the ECF decreases (individual is overhydrated so have too much water)?
- ECF would become hypotonic compared to ICF
- there would be movement of water from ECF to the cell to restore osmotic balance and as a result cell volume would increase and ECF volume would decrease
what are some challanges to fluid homeostasis?
-gain or loss of water changes the osmolarity with similar changes in ICF and ECF volumes
- gain or loss of NaCl will change fluid osmolarity
- Sodium is ‘excluded’ from ICF, it can only enter ECF
-gain or loss of isotonic fluid (no change in fluid osmolarity, change in ECF only)
what structure alters the composition and volume of ECF?
kidneys- this is vital for long term regulation of blood pressure
what are electrolytes?
-any substance that dissociated into free ions when dissolved
when does electrolyte balance occur?
-when rates of gain= rates of loss
whats an example of an electrolyte?
NaCl
why is electrolyte balance important?
- total electrolyte concentrations can directly affect water balance (via changes in osmolarity)
- the concnetrations of individual electrolytes can affect cell function