Fluids and electrolytesHomeostasis is the way the body maintains its internal stability. Cells require certain conditions to function properly. The ability to produce energy is the key to life. Animals eat food and take in fluids that the body breaks down to be used by cells for energy. Cells need oxygen to convert carbohydrates or sugars into energy. Fluids are responsible for transporting nutrients to cells and transporting waste products from energy production out of the body. Fluids About 60 percent of the adult body is made up of fluids. In this fluid there is a mixture of water and ions. Cells contain fluid (1/3 intracellular fluid) but are also surrounded by fluid (2/3 extracellular fluid). There are two types of extracellular fluids, one is intravascular, like the fluid that promotes blood circulation throughout the body, and the other is interstitial fluid, the fluid that surrounds cells inside body tissues. Extracellular fluids are necessary to provide cells with the ions and nutrients necessary to maintain life. For cells to perform their functions, appropriate concentrations of ions, oxygen, glucose, amino acids, and lipids must be available in the cellular environment. Fluids are also essential for transporting waste products out of the cell and out of the body; an accumulation of these products can kill the cell if allowed to accumulate. (Guyton & Hall, 2000, p.3-4) Intake and output The human body requires approximately 1,500 to 2,500 ml of water per day. Food contains some of it and most of it comes from fluid intake. Women have less water than men and older people even less than women. Every day, the average adult excretes water in stool, sweat, lungs and urine. Fluid lost in sweat 8% but varies depending on activity and temperature. The...... middle of paper......nics, isotonics, hypotonics, crystalloids and colloids are essential tools in the medical field. It is of utmost importance that these tools are used with caution and with the right type of illness due to the damage they can cause. Every organ in the body contributes to fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. Works Cited Guyton, AC and Hall, JE (2000). Textbook of Medical Physiology (10th ed.). Philadelphia: Sunders. Ignatavicius, DD and Workman, ML (2013). Medical-surgical nursing: patient-centered collaborative care. St. Louis: Elsevier Saunders. Crawford, A. and Harris, H. (2011). IV Fluids: What Nurses Need to Know. Lippincott Nursing Center, 41(5), 30-38. doi:10.1097/01.NURSE.0000396282.43928.40Critical Care Nursing Made Incredibly Easy! (3rd ed.). (2012). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.