Osmosis

Three main areas

Aging

Disease

Trauma!!!

During your ER rotation you notice that the patient in room #1 needs an IV because they are dehydrated and that makes sense. However, the patient in room #2 also needs an IV, but they are suffering from edema and very swollen. Won't the extra fluid hurt the patient?

So, how does osmosis

1 of 3 things will happen

Isotonic Solution

• If the concentration of solute is equal on both sides,
• the water will move back and forth
• there will be no result on the amount of H20 on either side
• "ISO" means the same
• Does the matrix have the same amount of salt as the cell?

Hypotonic Solution

• "Hypo" means less
• There are fewer solute molecules outside the cell
• water will move into the cell
• cell will gain water and grow larger
• Does the matrix have less salt than the cell?

Could the cell burst?

Hypertonic Solution

• "hyper" means more
• there are more solute molecules outside the cell
• water will be sucked out of the cell
• cells will shrink and die
• Does the matrix have more salt than the cell?