In doing so, think about how our body uses this cohesive approach to respond to dehydration, water toxicity, a drug overdose and metabolic acidosis? How many systems are we recruiting for these processes? Is the response of all systems fast, slow or a mixture of both?
Think about hyponatremia and hypernatremia and how each condition impacts fluid and electrolyte balance. In more detail, if we have hyponatremia and our blood sodium is extremely low, how does the inverse relationship between blood sodium and potassium levels, affect cardiac function?
We now know most of what we need to know about each individual system, it is now time to put on our thinking caps and bridge the gap between individual system physiology and systemic physiology!
Informally and based upon what you now understand about fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balance, think about the following questions posed. Discuss and, most importantly, debate the “why” of one question below that interests you most.
As this is a discussion, the goal is to debate freely with your peers and to have the opportunity to explore and analyze, not only your chosen question, but also the thoughts of your classmates. You might find that you end on a topic below that is far removed from your original choice. That is ok and encouraged!
- Why is blood pH between 7.0 and 7.35 considered acidic when basic chemistry defines a pH above 7.0 basic?