hormonal and metabolic disorders
Overview of Acid Base Balance
Types of Acid Base Disorders
There are two abnormalities of acid-base balance: Acidosis : The blood has too much acid (or too little base), resulting in a Alkalosis : The blood has too much base (or too little acid), resulting in an Acidosis and alkalosis are not diseases but rather are the result of a wide variety of disorders. The presence of acidosis or alkalosis provides an important clue to doctors that a serious problem exists. Acidosis and alkalosis are categorized depending on their primary cause as Metabolic Respiratory Metabolic acidosisandmetabolic alkalosisare caused by an imbalance in the production of acids or bases and their excretion by the kidneys. Respiratory acidosisandrespiratory alkalosisare caused by changes in carbon dioxide exhalation due to lung or breathing disorders. People can have more than one acid-base disorder. Each acid-base disturbance provokes automatic compensatory mechanisms that push the blood pH back toward normal. In general, the respiratory system compensates for metabolic disturbances while metabolic mechanisms compensate for respiratory disturbances. At first, the compensatory mechanisms may restore the pH close to normal. Thus, if the blood pH has changed significantly, it means that the body's ability to compensate is failing. In such cases, doctors urgently search for and treat the underlying cause of the acid-base disturbance. 