C.S.I. Reference Articles

What Are Electrolytes And Why Are They Important?

Definition: Chemicals such as salts and minerals needed for various functions in the body.

Our body fluids are solutions of electrolytes and many other things. The combination of blood and the circulatory system is the river of life, because it coordinates all the life functions. When the heart stops pumping in a heart attack, the life ends quickly. Getting the heart restarted as soon as one can in order to maintain life.

The primary electrolytes required in the body fluid are cations (of calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium) and anions (of chloride, carbonates, aminoacetates, phosphates, and iodide). These are nutritionally called macrominerals.

Electrolyte balance is crucial to many body functions. Here’s some extreme examples of what can happen with an imbalance of electrolytes: elevated potassium levels may result in cardiac arrhythmias; decreased extracellular potassium produces paralysis; excessive extracellular sodium causes fluid retention, and decreased plasma calcium and magnesium can produce muscle spasms of the extremities.

When a patient is dehydrated, a carefully prepared (commercially available) electrolyte solution is required to maintain the health and well being. In terms of child health, oral electrolyte is need when a child is dehydrated due to diarrhea. The use of oral electrolyte maintenance solutions, which is responsible for saving millions of lives worldwide over the last 25 years, is one of the most important medical advances in protecting the health of children in the century, — explains Juilus G.K. Goepp, MD, assistant director of the Pediatric Emergency Department of the Children’s Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital. IF a parent provides an oral electrolyte maintenance solution at the very start of the illness, dehydration can be prevented. The functionality of electrolyte solutions is related to their properties, and interest in electrolyte solutions goes far beyond chemistry.

Technically, electrolytes are minerals (magnesium, potassium,sodium, and calcium) that are lost through perspiration or other forms of dehydration, particularly in heat stress situations. Under ideal conditions, electrolytes flow through muscle cells to keep them functioning normally. Perspiration depletes cells of fluids and weakens the muscle tissue. Within seconds of drinking an electrolyte replacement, the electrolytes are put back where they belong. And in the process, energy is back where it belongs. Water is the largest single componet in the body and serves as a vehicle for electrolytes because body fluid composition is largely water. Electrolytes are those substances or compounds which, when dissolved in water, dissociate into positively and negatively charged ions. Optimum nerve reaction and muscular activity are dependent on proper exchange of these ions outside and inside cells. Electrolytes can be simple inorganic salts of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium or complex organic molecules. These minerals are lost through perspiration or other forms of dehydration, particularly in heat stress situations. Loss of body fluid means what it says: loss of water plus its contents (electrolytes) from the body. A good rule of thumb is to use water for the first 60 minutes of exercises and then switch to an electrolyte replacement. Intake of plain water replaces part of the loss, intake of an electrolyte drink replaces fluids plus the lost simple inorganic salts, all of which work together in keeping the body functioning properly.