3. DEHYDRATION
Dehydration is defined as an excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object, however in physiological terms; it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism. There are three main types of dehydration: hypotonic, primarily a loss of electrolytes, sodium in particular; hypertonic, primarily a loss of water; and isotonic, equal loss of water and electrolytes.
(1) In humans, the most commonly seen type of dehydration by far is isotonic dehydration which effectively equates with hypovolemia, but the distinction of isotonic from hypotonic or hypertonic dehydration may be important when treating people who become dehydrated. Physiologically, dehydration, despite the name, does not simply mean loss of water, as water and solutes are usually lost in roughly equal quantities to how they exist in blood plasma. In hypotonic dehydration, intravascular water shifts to the extravascular space, exaggerating intravascular volume depletion for a given amount of total body water loss.
(2) Symptoms may include headaches similar to what is experienced during a hangover, muscle cramps, a sudden episode of visual snow, decreased blood pressure, and dizziness or fainting when standing up due to orthostatic hypotension. Untreated dehydration generally results in delirium, unconsciousness, swelling of the tongue and in extreme cases, death.
(3) Dehydration symptoms generally become noticeable after 2% of one's normal water volume has been lost. Initially, one experiences thirst and discomfort, possibly along with loss of appetite and dry skin. This can be followed by constipation. Athletes may suffer a loss of performance of up to 30% and experience flushing, low endurance, rapid heart rates, elevated body temperatures, and rapid onset of fatigue.
(4) Symptoms of mild dehydration include thirst, decreased urine volume, abnormally dark urine, unexplained tiredness, irritability, lack of tears when crying, headache, dry mouth, dizziness when standing due to orthostatic hypotension, negative moods and some cases can cause insomnia.
Question: The word "solutes" in the passage is closest in meaning to
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