Atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib, is the most common type of irregular heartbeat, and it is associated with increased mortality. While researchers have identified a causal link between obesity and AFib, the underlying ...
Nov 27, 2019
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With many people spending less time cooking and more time eating out and ordering takeaways, the food industry has adapted by introducing commercial meal kit subscription services that deliver recipes and fresh, pre-measured ...
Nov 07, 2019
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Patients with irregular heartbeats, or arrhythmia, have few effective treatment options—available drugs are not always effective, and an implanted defibrillator can be too aggressive.
Oct 29, 2019
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The lab of Stephen Waxman, Bridget M. Flaherty Professor of Neurology and of Neuroscience, has identified the key role of sodium channels arrayed on nerve cells in experience of pain.
Oct 24, 2019
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Diets high in sodium can lead to a number of health issues, most commonly high blood pressure. According to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH), in 2018 one in three adults in Philadelphia had high blood pressure. ...
Sep 30, 2019
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An innovative study finds that sodium and potassium levels—reflections of a person's typical diet—may be predictors of future depression in teens. The first-of-its-kind study is published in Physiological Reports.
Sep 19, 2019
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Cheese lovers, rejoice. Antioxidants naturally found in cheese may help protect blood vessels from damage from high levels of salt in the diet, according to a new Penn State study.
Sep 17, 2019
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Grocery shopping can be overwhelming given the number of choices down every aisle and deciding between what is healthy or not can add to that challenge. It is possible to stick to a healthy meal plan—you just have to plan ...
Sep 10, 2019
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Finnish researchers have found cellular components in the epithelial tissue of the eye, which have previously been thought to only be present in electrically active tissues, such as those in nerves and the heart. A study ...
Aug 15, 2019
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Scientists have shed light on the complicated relationship between the makeup of our DNA and how much alcohol we drink.
Aug 14, 2019
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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.
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