If you reach for water when a muscle cramp strikes, you might want to think again. New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has revealed drinking electrolytes instead of pure water can help prevent muscle cramps.
Mar 18, 2021
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Researchers from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania came up with the idea on how to measure fluctuating blood potassium levels non-invasively, through electrocardiogram. The researchers claim that their method ...
Nov 23, 2020
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A ketogenic diet can lead to several flu-like symptoms within the first few weeks on the diet, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Nutrition. These symptoms peak in the first 7 days and dwindle after four weeks ...
Mar 13, 2020
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Electrolyte supplements popular with endurance runners can't be relied on to keep essential sodium levels in balance, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and their collaborators.
Feb 26, 2020
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Champagne and New Year's Eve go hand-in-hand like, well, things that go hand-in-hand together. This New Year's Eve, some of us probably had more fun than we expected, drank more champagne than we expected and woke up feeling ...
Jan 08, 2019
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(HealthDay)—A quality improvement initiative rapidly reduced unnecessary electrolyte testing among hospitalized pediatric patients, according to a study published online April 4 in Pediatrics.
Apr 04, 2018
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(HealthDay)—Electrolyte disturbances and acid-base disorders are common occurrences in patients with chronic alcohol-use disorder regardless of social circumstances, according to a review published online Oct. 4 in the ...
Oct 09, 2017
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Spanish researchers have analysed how the sodium lost through sweat during a marathon influences the maintenance of stable and physiologically sound conditions that allow the body to carry out its functions. Excessive electrolyte ...
Mar 30, 2016
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(HealthDay)—Esophageal rupture can occur in association with colonoscopy preparation, according to a letter to the editor published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Mar 25, 2016
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Spanish researchers have analysed the effectiveness of salt on sports performance in triathletes. The athletes who added salt supplements to their usual hydration routines during the competition took 26 fewer minutes to complete ...
Mar 05, 2015
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In chemistry, an electrolyte is any substance containing free ions that make the substance electrically conductive. The most typical electrolyte is an ionic solution, but molten electrolytes and solid electrolytes are also possible.
Commonly, electrolytes are solutions of acids, bases or salts. Furthermore, some gases may act as electrolytes under conditions of high temperature or low pressure. Electrolyte solutions can also result from the dissolution of some biological (e.g., DNA, polypeptides) and synthetic polymers (e.g., polystyrene sulfonate), termed polyelectrolytes, which contain charged functional groups.
Electrolyte solutions are normally formed when a salt is placed into a solvent such as water and the individual components dissociate due to the thermodynamic interactions between solvent and solute molecules, in a process called solvation. For example, when table salt, NaCl, is placed in water, the salt (a solid) dissolves into its component ions, according to the dissociation reaction
It is also possible for substances to react with water producing ions, e.g., carbon dioxide gas dissolves in water to produce a solution which contains hydronium, carbonate, and hydrogen carbonate ions.
Note that molten salts can be electrolytes as well. For instance, when sodium chloride is molten, the liquid conducts electricity.
An electrolyte in a solution may be described as concentrated if it has a high concentration of ions, or dilute if it has a low concentration. If a high proportion of the solute dissociates to form free ions, the electrolyte is strong; if most of the solute does not dissociate, the electrolyte is weak. The properties of electrolytes may be exploited using electrolysis to extract constituent elements and compounds contained within the solution.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
