Fluids and electrolytes Homeostasis is the way the body maintains internal stability. Cells require certain conditions to function properly. The ability to produce energy is fundamental to life. Animals eat food and absorb fluids that the body breaks down to be used by cells for energy. Oxygen is needed by cells to convert carbohydrates or sugars into energy. Fluids are responsible for transporting nutrients to cells and carrying waste products of energy production out of the body. Fluids Approximately 60% 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 as the fluid that helps blood flow throughout the body and the other is interstitial fluid the fluid that surrounds the cells within the body tissues. Extracellular fluids are necessary to provide cells with the ions and nutrients needed to maintain life. For cells to carry out their functions, the right concentrations of ions, oxygen, glucose, amino acids and lipids must be available in the cellular environment. Fluids are also essential for the transport of waste products out of the cell and out of the body; a build of these products can kill the cell if allowed to build up. (Guyton & Hall, 2000, p.3-4) Intake and productionThe human body needs approximately 1500 ml – 2500 ml of water per day. Food contains some, and most comes from fluid intake. Women have less water than men and the elderly have even less than women. Every day an average adult expels water in feces, sweat, exhalation of the lungs and urine. Fluid lost through sweat 8% but varies depending on activity and temperature. The... center of the paper... nic, isotonic, hypotonic, crystalloid and colloid are critical tools in the medical field. It is of the utmost importance that these tools are used with caution and with the correct type of medical disease due to the damage they can cause. Every organ in the body plays its part in aiding fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. Works Cited Guyton, A. C., & Hall, J. E. (2000). Textbook of medical physiology (10th ed.). Philadelphia: Sunders.Ignatavicius, D.D., & Workman, M.L. (2013). Medical-surgical nursing: patient-centered collaborative care. St. Louis: Elsevier Saunders.Crawford, A., & Harris, H. (2011). IV Fluids: What Nurses Need to Know. Lippincott Nursing Center, 41(5), 30-38. doi:10.1097/01.NURSE.0000396282.43928.40 Critical care nursing just got incredibly simple! (3rd ed.). (2012). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.