10

CHAPTER

157

Fluid and

Electrolyte Therapy

What would happen if your muscles no longer contracted? You couldn’t eat and

digest food and water. You would be unable to move, talk, and eventually your

brain would be unable to function. Most importantly, your heart is a muscle and

it would just stop beating.

In order for muscles to contract, your body needs the proper balance between

fluids and electrolytes inside and outside of cells. Electrolytes are salts whose

positive and negative charges generate the electrical impulse to contract muscles

in your body.

Diseases and treatment of disease can cause fluids and electrolytes to become

imbalanced and require the patient to receive medication to restore the balance.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to recognize the signs and symptoms of fluid

and electrolyte imbalance and learn about therapeutic treatment that brings them

back into balance.

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