[QUOTE=aptronym on Blake]
True, but your post contains a lot of errors as well.
[/QUOTE]
Given, but not without some truth. Silver Nitrate will quickly react with chloride in a biological system. In doing so, it causes protiens to denature, therby cauterizing wounds the same way an egg cooks. Without chloride, not only wouldn’t your nerves cease to function, but all of your protiens would denature. You would essentially be cooked instantly.
[QUOTE=outlierrn]
In 10 years of ER and ICU nursing I’ve seen 1 patient whose chloride level was far enough off that we had to intervene. I’ve seen many pts whose sodium levels required intervention
[/QUOTE]
Maybe it’s more common in animals. Ruminants, in particular, seem to be good at throwing their acid/base balances all to hell by excessive losses of Chloride.
Do humans get paradoxical aciduria?
Cheers,
Pullet
[QUOTE=Pullet]
Someday, I will invent a machine that will allow me to slap people over the internet.
[/QUOTE]
Are you taking orders already? I need one of these machines very badly. My target list is many pages long.
[QUOTE=Pullet]
Maybe it’s more common in animals. Ruminants, in particular, seem to be good at throwing their acid/base balances all to hell by excessive losses of Chloride.
Do humans get paradoxical aciduria?
Cheers,
Pullet
[/QUOTE]
well, acid/base imbalances from vomiting I’ve seen, and I’m sure urine pH changes because of it, but never the diagnosis of paradoxical aciduria. I’ve never given a pt chloride unless it was hitchiking with sodium, calcium or potassium, and I’ve only seen one pt who’s chloride was so high we tried to limit his intake.
[QUOTE=slaphead]
Are you taking orders already? I need one of these machines very badly. My target list is many pages long.
[/QUOTE]
Why, yes, <sidelong glance> I’m taking orders. Please remit $3000 in small, unmarked bills to the P.O. Box I am designating in a PM to you now 
outlierrn, thanks for the info. I should have said that acid/base disturbances are more insidious in ruminants because the structure of their stomach allows them to “vomit” without having actual emesis, so it’s a diagnosis you come up with based on blood work instead of clinical suspicion.
Paradoxical aciduria happens when the patient is metabolically alkolotic, but low on chloride at the same time, both usually due to vomiting. Every time I think about this, I forget exactly how it works, but the end result is that the blood is getting more and more basic, and the kidneys, which should be helping by shedding all that excess HCO3-, are doing the opposite and shedding H+ instead, making the alkolosis worse. I should really know that whole pathology better 
End result: It’s common to test for bicarb and to treat for hypochloridemia. With monogastrics like cats and dogs, you’ve got the actual vomiting to make you suspect acid/base problems, so it’s not routinely tested for in bloodwork.
>What the FUCK. Did you just call me a foolish gullible sucker? Are you suggesting that my direct experience with patients who are critically ill because of sodium imbalance is nonsense? Did I say sodium is bad? Did I say they were critically ill because their sodium was high? Shame on you Napier, axe grinding is not a synonym for ignorance fighting.
>Ummm … I assumed Napier was being sarcastic in calling the Mayo, the AMA, and the NIH foolish gullible suckers.
Gee, outlierrn, I was being sarcastic while affirming your post. I sure didn’t mean to offend you! I’m sorry! I’m actually on your side!
I wondered if I was being foolish by posting sarcastically, and I guess I was. I understand from many references that sodium intake is widely regarded as a big health issue, and think sources like you, Mayo, AMA, and NIH are all on the same side. Yes, acsenray, you read me correctly.
>Did I say they were critically ill because their sodium was high?
No, you didn’t say in which direction their sodium was off. I assumed the problem was too much sodium, because I’ve heard of that more often, but come to think of it I’ve heard of low sodium being a problem too, and actually I don’t know which you meant. So, I may well have compounded my offense with this assumption, which of course I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry about that, too!
I thought it was funny that bouv seemed to be arguing against so many different people, but I shouldn’t have tried to make a joke about it, and now am afraid my understanding of the issue may have been wrong anyway. I hope anybody offended might accept my appology, especially outlierrn, but in any case will try not to make things any worse. Sorry!
The OP’s question is, I think, the only easy one in this thread.
KP nailed one major reason, that “sodium” is both the metallic (uncharged) version (the one that blows up in water), and the positively charged ion that’s in table salt.
Also, as other’s have noted, the chloride, although necessary for normal body function, isn’t the ion that’s usually linked to common problems such as hypertension, CHF, etc. Improperly balanced sodium levels can influence the above, plus many more health problems.
That said, under ideal circumstances, the human body is able to properly balance sodium levels, given enough water intake, as bouv mentioned. The trick is making sure you get enough water, maintain a more-or-less steady salt & water intake. Sodium consumption varies across the globe. That said, it is far, far easier to limit sodium intake to a “reasonable” level than to try to correctly balance your sodium and water intake.
There’s still no easy answer, though (to how much sodium is “good” for you). Don’t believe me? Check out Wiki’s salt page and read the section on Health Effects. There’s still a fair amount of controversy on the subject of salt and sodium intake.
Any time you see a survey telling you how bad salt is for you, it generally involves a study of people with an existing disease regulating their salt intake. Any time a researcher releases a study demonstrating the effects of salt, if the researcher is worth their salt (sorry*), they throw in all sorts of clarification points like “in a survey of XXX men between the ages of 45-65 with pre-existing hypertension and an average previous diet of 4,000 mg of sodium per day…” These clarifications almost always get lost in the translation from scientific journal article to newspaper headline. The medical pundits who are advocating for a reduced salt intake are aiming at the (sadly large majority of us) folks who are not exercising enough, are already carrying around more fat than they should, and are therefore stressing their systems. Or, put another way, if you’re young, healthy, exercising a lot, (and therefore sweating a lot) you need a higher sodium intake, so, sure, in these circumstances, eat all the salt your body tells you to. The rest of us, though, had better watch out.
Lastly, according to some sources, the salt you use in your own cooking may contribute as little as 10% (or lower) to your sodium intake. The salt you put on your mashed spuds and meatloaf has much less of an impact to your intake than what they put on your fires and burger at the local eat-n-go. The real massage there is that you should be cooking your own food more often.
No, I’m actually not… 
[QUOTE=Pullet]
Why, yes, <sidelong glance> I’m taking orders. Please remit $3000 in small, unmarked bills to the P.O. Box I am designating in a PM to you now
[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately I am only able to pay using bankers drafts of $5000. Can you send me the $2000 change?
I was whoosed so hard it chapped my ass. I should know better too, my sarcasm gets misread often enough IRL, sorry about that. It makes me realize how much i left out of my post though, as low sodium levels are what I’ve treated in the past. In fact, hypertonic saline is useful in head trauma pts that have cerebral edema. We sometimes drive their sodium levels up quite high to pull fluid off the brain. Short term and long term can often be quite different
[QUOTE=Napier]
>What the FUCK. Did you just call me a foolish gullible sucker? Are you suggesting that my direct experience with patients who are critically ill because of sodium imbalance is nonsense? Did I say sodium is bad? Did I say they were critically ill because their sodium was high? Shame on you Napier, axe grinding is not a synonym for ignorance fighting.
>Ummm … I assumed Napier was being sarcastic in calling the Mayo, the AMA, and the NIH foolish gullible suckers.
Gee, outlierrn, I was being sarcastic while affirming your post. I sure didn’t mean to offend you! I’m sorry! I’m actually on your side!
I wondered if I was being foolish by posting sarcastically, and I guess I was. I understand from many references that sodium intake is widely regarded as a big health issue, and think sources like you, Mayo, AMA, and NIH are all on the same side. Yes, acsenray, you read me correctly.
>Did I say they were critically ill because their sodium was high?
No, you didn’t say in which direction their sodium was off. I assumed the problem was too much sodium, because I’ve heard of that more often, but come to think of it I’ve heard of low sodium being a problem too, and actually I don’t know which you meant. So, I may well have compounded my offense with this assumption, which of course I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry about that, too!
I thought it was funny that bouv seemed to be arguing against so many different people, but I shouldn’t have tried to make a joke about it, and now am afraid my understanding of the issue may have been wrong anyway. I hope anybody offended might accept my appology, especially outlierrn, but in any case will try not to make things any worse. Sorry!
[/QUOTE]
>OK, my bad
Well, I’m relieved you’re not mad. I took a chance by being sarcastic, so I still appologize. And to bouv, too, whose cage I actually WAS trying to rattle. This is just not the medium for it. So, a thousand pardons, again.
Where do we wind up? Do most of us need to limit sodium intake, or not? My understanding is that most of us do, based on references like the ones I cited that are aimed at the general public, but I don’t think I know for sure.
[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
So she’s never heard of salt licks?
[/QUOTE]
So you’ve never heard of sodium + bromide?
The point is, while Janet Starr Hull may be a quack, that one phrase of hers you quote isn’t particularly quackish. It’s true that animals don’t need NaCl. We do need Na and we do need Cl, but we can get them from other sources besides NaCl.
[QUOTE=psychonaut]
So you’ve never heard of sodium + bromide?
The point is, while Janet Starr Hull may be a quack, that one phrase of hers you quote isn’t particularly quackish. It’s true that animals don’t need NaCl. We do need Na and we do need Cl, but we can get them from other sources besides NaCl.
[/QUOTE]
Perhaps, but there’s a reason animals and people like the taste of salt.