News tagged with sodium
Researchers illuminate link between sodium, calcium and heartbeat
Using the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, researchers from the University of British Columbia have revealed, for the first time, one of the molecular mechanisms that regulates the beating of heart cells by controlling ...
Medical research
Feb 13, 2012 |
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An 'off' switch for pain: Chemists build light-controlled neural inhibitor
Pain? Just turn it off! It may sound like science fiction, but researchers based in Munich, Berkeley and Bordeaux have now succeeded in inhibiting pain-sensitive neurons on demand, in the laboratory. The crucial element in ...
Medical research
Feb 22, 2012 |
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Simulated Mars mission reveals body's sodium rhythms
Clinical pharmacologist Jens Titze, M.D., knew he had a one-of-a-kind scientific opportunity: the Russians were going to simulate a flight to Mars, and he was invited to study the participating cosmonauts.
Medical research
Jan 08, 2013 |
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Atomic structure discovered for a sodium channel that generates electrical signals in living cells
Scientists at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle have determined the atomic architecture of a sodium channel. The achievement opens new possibilities for molecular medicine researchers around the world in designing ...
Medical research
Jul 13, 2011 |
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Too much of a good thing? How drinking too much water can kill
Drinking enough water is very important during long periods of physical activity or recreational pursuits. But there are rare instances when too much fluid intake can be harmful, and even lead to death.
Health
Sep 28, 2012 |
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Salt diet dangers may be influenced by potassium
The debate about the dangers of eating too much salt has gained a new wrinkle: A federal study suggests that the people most at risk are those who also get too little potassium.
Health
Jul 11, 2011 |
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New proteins to clear the airways in cystic fibrosis and COPD
University of North Carolina scientists have uncovered a new strategy that may one day help people with cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder better clear the thick and sticky mucus that clogs their lungs ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Jul 13, 2012 |
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In a world of chronic pain, individual treatment possible, research shows
An investigation into the molecular causes of a debilitating condition known as "Man on Fire Syndrome" has led Yale researchers to develop a strategy that may lead to personalized pain therapy and predict which chronic pain ...
Medical research
Nov 13, 2012 |
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Low-dose sedative alleviates autistic-like behavior in mice with Dravet syndrome mutation
A low dose of the sedative clonazepam alleviated autistic-like behavior in mice with a mutation that causes Dravet syndrome in humans, University of Washington researchers have shown.
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Aug 22, 2012 |
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New study calls sodium intake guidelines into question
For years doctors have warned that too much salt is bad for your heart. Now a new McMaster University study suggests that both high and low levels of salt intake may put people with heart disease or diabetes at increased ...
Health
Nov 22, 2011 |
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Genetic defect disturbs salt handling and pushes up blood pressure levels
(Medical Xpress) -- Hypertension is an endemic condition with far-reaching consequences. For instance, high blood pressure is the main cause of heart attacks and strokes. Other organs are also damaged by the ...
Genetics
Nov 25, 2011 |
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CDC: Bread beats out chips as biggest salt source
Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of salt in the American diet, accounting for more than twice as much sodium as salty junk food like potato chips.
Health
Feb 07, 2012 |
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Magnesium lowers blood pressure
(Medical Xpress) -- Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire have found that magnesium supplements may offer small but clinically significant reductions in blood pressure. In a paper published in the European Journal of ...
Health
Mar 15, 2012 |
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Immune system uses heart channel to select powerful defenders
(Medical Xpress) -- When the body makes immune T cells, it relies on a molecular channel more commonly seen in nerves and heart muscles to ensure that the powerful T cells have the right mixture of aggressiveness ...
Immunology
Aug 16, 2012 |
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Skin and immune system influence salt storage and regulate blood pressure
High blood pressure is responsible for many cardiovascular diseases that are the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. High salt intake has long been considered a risk factor, but not every type of high blood ...
Medical research
Sep 08, 2012 |
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Sodium
Sodium (pronounced /ˈsoʊdiəm/) is a metallic element with a symbol Na (from Latin natrium or Arabic natrun) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1" (formerly known as ‘group IA’). It has only one stable isotope, 23Na.
Elemental sodium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1806 by passing an electric current through molten sodium hydroxide. Elemental sodium does not occur naturally on Earth, but quickly oxidizes in air and is violently reactive with water, so it must be stored in an inert medium, such as a liquid hydrocarbon. The free metal is used for some chemical synthesis and heat transfer applications.
Sodium ion is soluble in water in nearly all of its compounds, and is thus present in great quantities in the Earth's oceans and other stagnant bodies of water. In these bodies it is mostly counterbalanced by the chloride ion, causing evaporated ocean water solids to consist mostly of sodium chloride, or common table salt. Sodium ion is also a component of many minerals.
Sodium is an essential element for all animal life and for some plant species. In animals, sodium ions are used in opposition to potassium ions, to allow the organism to build up an electrostatic charge on cell membranes, and thus allow transmission of nerve impulses when the charge is allowed to dissipate by a moving wave of voltage change. Sodium is thus classified as a “dietary inorganic macro-mineral” for animals. Sodium's relative rarity on land is due to its solubility in water, thus causing it to be leached into bodies of long-standing water by rainfall. Such is its relatively large requirement in animals, in contrast to its relative scarcity in many inland soils, that herbivorous land animals have developed a special taste receptor for sodium ion.
For more information about Sodium, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
