WATER AS A FUNDAMENTAL SUBSTANCE FOR VETERINARY MEDICINE, A CONCEPTUAL APPROACH.

Greetings dear readers who accompany me daily in the scientific approach of this space of divulgation. The topic that concerns us in this opportunity is related to the use and benefits of water as solvents and as a fundamental substance in the area of veterinary medicine.

Therefore, we will conduct a literature review that will allow us to understand the metabolic contributions of the vital liquid, as well as its uses in practices associated with veterinary medicine and as has been constant in my publications, we will share this type of material through the community as @Stemsocial, a pioneer in the scientific approach within the #Hive platform.

Water is a substance of vital importance, largely due to its structural conformation that gives it exceptional properties for life. It is formed by the union of three atoms; one of oxygen and two of hydrogen (H₂O), and it is the type of bond by which these atoms are united, which gives it properties and functions in the animal organism.

In this sense, the bonds that make up the compound give it a high boiling point, a high specific heat and the ability to behave as a buffering and temperature-regulating substance.

Without leaving aside, the solvent properties of water make it the most used substance for the different activities of mankind, in the same way the metabolic system of living beings is governed by chemical reactions that are executed in an aqueous medium and that are important for the development and preservation of life. In this sense, the objective of this research is to make known the fundamental properties of water as well as its benefit to society and its importance in veterinary medicine.

Water is the most abundant liquid on planet Earth. It covers a large percentage of the earth's surface both in liquid form (oceans, seas, lakes, rivers) and in solid form (glaciers) and in gaseous form (in the lower layers of the atmosphere as water vapor). Water is a fundamental substance for life due to its properties resulting from its composition and structure.

It is also a simple molecule formed by three atoms, one of oxygen and two of hydrogen, joined by very strong covalent bonds that make the molecule very stable. It has an irregularly distributed electron density, since oxygen (one of the most electronegative elements) attracts electrons from both covalent bonds, so that the highest electron density (negative charge) gathers around the oxygen atom and the lowest (positive charge) near the hydrogen.

The water molecule has an angular geometry, which makes it a polar molecule that can bind to many other polar substances. Water molecules have the ability to form four hydrogen bonds with many other water molecules giving them a tetrahedral structure in the form of an ordered lattice, which is responsible for their peculiar physicochemical properties.

As we have already mentioned, water has the ability to buffer and regulate thermal changes due to its high specific heat, keeping the body temperature constant, its high vaporization heat allows to eliminate, through sweat, large amounts of heat as a mechanism to protect the excess increase in body temperature.

On the other hand, from the social point of view, man needs water to carry out his vital functions, for hygiene and domestic uses, to prepare and cook food, to irrigate the fields, for industrial applications and in power plants, among other areas of society.

Given the range of possibilities provided by this compound, its use in veterinary medicine is not surprising, since its importance lies in the development of the life process and, indeed, cell life depends on the cell's ability to maintain its volume and homeostasis.

Therefore, the organism is basically water in which a large number of solutes (proteins, vitamins, glucose, urea, sodium, chlorine, potassium, oxygen, carbon dioxide, among others) are distributed in the different cavities and regions of the body. Hence, water is essential for practically most of the functions of the organism and also its most abundant compound. However, although we depend on it, the body is not able to synthesize it in sufficient quantities or to store it, so it must be ingested regularly.

For this reason, water is an essential nutrient in the diet in much greater quantities than any other nutrient. At present, organisms are known to be able to live without light, even without oxygen, but none can live without water. However, the loss of only 1-2% of body water affects thermoregulation and the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and limits them considerably.

For example, in the case of cattle, a decrease in the consumption of vital liquid leads to a state of hypovolemia and dehydration, understood as a pathology where blood or some other fluid is lost and consequently the pumping and functioning of the heart is hindered, which favors the development of pathologies due to weakness, fatigue and dizziness in the animal.

However, an abrupt ingestion of water by cattle leads to hypervolemia and causes pathologies such as water intoxication which generates convulsions, disorientation, hematuria and vomiting of water leading to sudden death.

Water conditions all the reactions of metabolism, intervening in many of these reactions as a substrate or as a product. For example, in digestion, hydrolysis reactions lead to the oxidation of macronutrients. They also conduct electric current (thanks to their high dielectric constant in ionic solutions), which is important, for example, in the transmission of nerve impulses.

Water also contributes to the organization of macromolecules, since it not only maintains macromolecular structure but also mediates the recognition of molecules, provides communication channels through cell membranes, increases the mobility or flexibility of enzymes and facilitates enzymatic attack. Because of its high molecular cohesion, water is necessary to maintain cell volume, an important requirement for life.

In addition, an important point to bear in mind is that water is not found in nature as a pure substance, since it is combined with other dissolved chemical substances that in a certain way contribute nutritional and organoleptic qualities to this vital liquid, which is why water should also be considered as a food, another component of the diet, which contributes to the supply of certain nutrients.

Knowing the dependence that living beings have on water and the impact it has had on society and medicine, it is worth asking what makes it such a special substance and so different from others. Well, due to its composition and structure, water possesses a wide range of physical and chemical properties compared to other common substances, properties responsible for its efficiency in the homeostasis, structure and function of the cells and tissues of the organism.

Likewise, it plays a crucial role in the structure of DNA, since it binds nitrogenous bases and, in proteins, allows reversible changes that make their functions possible. Likewise, its physical and chemical characteristics are transcendent in its biological functions, especially those related to its solvent, transport, structural and thermoregulatory capacity. The thermal property of water is unique and because of it, this vital liquid is the main responsible for the thermoregulatory system of the organism, keeping the body temperature constant, regardless of the environment and metabolic activity.

Water is a molecule that can dissolve a great variety of substances (hydrophilic and hydrophobic), an effect that is also very important for life, thanks to its size and the polar nature of the hydrogen-oxygen bonds that make up its structure and its capacity to create hydrogen bridges.

[1] McMURRY E., John and Fay C., Robert (2008). General chemistry. Fifth edition PEARSON EDUCATION, Mexico, 2009 ISBN: 978-970-26 1286-5.

[2] Ralph, H. Petrucci, William S. Harwood, E. Geoffrey Herring (2003). GENERAL CHEMISTRY. Eighth edition. PEARSON EDUCACIÓN. S.A., Madrid.

[1] M.ª PILAR VAQUERO RODRIGO, ANA M.ª PÉREZ GRANADOS. Water: the importance of adequate hydration.Artículo: Acceso Online

1. The cover image was made by @madridbg, used public domain image.

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