Electrolyte disturbance

Electrolyte disturbance refers to an abnormal change in the levels of electrolytesin the body. This usually constitutes a medical emergency. Severe or prolonged electrolyte disturbance can lead to cardiacproblems, neuronalmalfunction, organfailure and ultimately death.

The most serious electrolyte disturbances involve abnormalities in the levels of sodium, potassium, and/or calcium. Other electrolyte imbalances are less common, and often occur in conjunction with major electrolyte changes.

Nomenclature

There is a standard nomenclaturefor electrolyte disorders:

1. The name starts with a prefixdenoting whether the electrolyte is abnormally elevated ("hyper") or depleted ("hypo").
2. The word stem then gives the name of the electrolyte in Latin. If no Latin equivalent exists, then the corresponding term in Englishis used.
3. The name ends with the suffix"emia," meaning "in the blood." (Note, this doesn't mean that the disturbance is only in the blood; usually, electrolyte disturbance is systemic. However, since the disturbance is usually detected from blood testing, the convention has developed.)

For instance, elevated potassium in the blood is called "hyperkalemia" from the Latin term for potassium, "kalium".

Table of common electrolyte disturbances

See also

• Acidosis
• Alkalosis
• Dehydration
• Malnutrition
• Starvationde:Elektrolytstörung

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte+disturbance Wikipedia article Electrolyte disturbance.