BLOOD TEST · SMART CARE POLYCLINIC, DEIRA
Chloride explained
Read beside sodium to work out the body's acid balance rather than for its own sake.
What the Chloride test measures
The salt that partners sodium in the fluid outside your cells. It usually moves with sodium, and it is one of the numbers used to judge whether the blood is too acidic or too alkaline.
Reported as part of Kidney Function & Electrolytes.
What the result tells you
It is rarely interesting alone
Moving in step with sodium points to water balance. Moving independently turns the question towards acid balance instead.
What the doctor calculates
The anion gap, which helps separate causes of acidosis — uncontrolled diabetes, kidney impairment, severe diarrhoea or certain poisonings.
Vomiting versus diarrhoea
Prolonged vomiting lowers it, because stomach acid is largely chloride. Prolonged diarrhoea raises it.
How to prepare
- Fasting
- Not needed
- Best time
- Any time, usually with the rest of the panel
- Worth knowing
- Be normally hydrated, as with sodium.
What can move the result
A result outside the usual range does not on its own mean something is wrong. These are the everyday explanations a doctor considers first.
Frequently asked questions
The salt that partners sodium in the fluid outside your cells. It usually moves with sodium, and it is one of the numbers used to judge whether the blood is too acidic or too alkaline. It is rarely interesting alone: Moving in step with sodium points to water balance. Moving independently turns the question towards acid balance instead.
Fasting: Not needed. Best time: Any time, usually with the rest of the panel. Be normally hydrated, as with sodium.
Commonly: dehydration and overhydration, as with sodium; prolonged vomiting, which lowers it; prolonged diarrhoea, which raises it; reduced kidney function; some water tablets. A single result is not a diagnosis. Values are read against the laboratory's own reference range and alongside your history, your symptoms and the rest of the panel — which is why every package includes a doctor to go through them with you.
At Smart Care Polyclinic, 29 Doha Centre, Al Maktoum Rd, Deira, Dubai. Walk in during opening hours or call +971 (0)4 379 3562.
Sources
Written from current guidance and reviewed 31 August 2026.
- Chloride blood testMedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine
- Electrolytes and anion gapTesting.com, Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine
- Blood testsNHS