Fluid and Electrolyte Balance

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Basics

• Summary
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• Diagnosis and Tests

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• Related Issues
• Genetics

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

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• Patient Handouts

Summary

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.

Start Here

• About Body Water (Merck & Co., Inc.)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Anion Gap Blood Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Bicarbonate Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Chloride Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Electrolytes Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Osmolality Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)

Related Issues

• Nutrition and Healthy Eating: How Much Water Should You Drink Each Day? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Selecting and Effectively Using Sports Drinks, Carbohydrate Gels and Energy Bars (American College of Sports Medicine) - PDF

Genetics

• Genetics Home Reference: autosomal dominant hypocalcemia (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: corticosterone methyloxidase deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: isolated hyperchlorhidrosis (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Liddle syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (National Library of Medicine)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Water-Electrolyte Imbalance (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Prognostic impact of hyponatremia occurring at various time points during...
• Article: Hypercalcaemia - presentation and management .
• Article: Hyponatraemia - presentations and management.
• Fluid and Electrolyte Balance -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish
• Food and Nutrition Information Center
• National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements

Children

• Basic Blood Tests (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Aldosterone blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Antidiuretic hormone blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Basic metabolic panel (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Electrolytes (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Fluid imbalance (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hypomagnesemia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Osmolality - blood (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Urine specific gravity test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish