Why is alkalosis dangerous

If you have only a mild chloride-responsive alkalosis, you may only need to make an adjustment in your diet, such as increasing your intake of salt sodium chloride. The chloride ions will make your blood more acidic and reduce the alkalosis. If your doctor determines your alkalosis needs immediate attention, they may give you an IV intravenous drip containing a saline solution sodium chloride. An IV is an almost painless procedure.

It involves inserting a small needle into a vein in your arm. The needle is connected by a tube to a sterile bag containing salt dissolved in water. This is usually done in a hospital setting. If you have chloride-resistant alkalosis, your body may be depleted of potassium. Your doctor will instead look for ways to increase potassium. Metabolic alkalosis may not show any symptoms. People with this type of alkalosis more often complain of the underlying conditions that are causing it.

These can include:. Our body produces carbon dioxide when we convert the food we eat into energy in our cells. The red blood cells in our veins take up the carbon dioxide and carry it to our lungs to be exhaled. When the carbon dioxide gas mixes with the water in the blood, it forms a mild acid, called carbonic acid. The carbonic acid then breaks apart into the bicarbonate ion and hydrogen. Bicarbonate ions are alkaline. By changing the rate of breathing, we can raise or lower the concentration of alkaline bicarbonate ions that are retained in our blood.

The body does this automatically in the process called respiratory compensation. The kidneys can help combat alkalosis by increasing the excretion of bicarbonate ions through the urine. Loss of stomach acids. This is the most common cause of metabolic alkalosis. The gastric juices have a high content of hydrochloric acid, a strong acid. Its loss causes an increase in the alkalinity of the blood.

The vomiting can result from any number of stomach disorders. For alkalosis caused by hyperventilation, breathing into a paper bag allows you to keep more carbon dioxide in your body, which improves the alkalosis. If your oxygen level is low, you may receive oxygen. Medicines may be needed to correct chemical loss such as chloride and potassium. Your provider will monitor your vital signs temperature, pulse, rate of breathing, and blood pressure.

Call your provider if you become confused, unable to concentrate, or unable to "catch your breath. Prevention depends on the cause of the alkalosis. People with healthy kidneys and lungs do not usually have serious alkalosis. Acid-base balance. Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; chap 7.

Oh MS, Briefel G. Evaluation of renal function, water, electrolytes, and acid-base balance. The doctor then looks for a serious cause, such as an infection. If pain is causing the person to breathe rapidly, relieving the pain usually suffices. When respiratory alkalosis is caused by anxiety or a panic attack, a conscious effort to relax and slow breathing may make the condition disappear. Calming reassurance and emotional support can help, and breathing into a paper not a plastic bag may help raise the carbon dioxide level in the blood as the person breathes carbon dioxide back in after breathing it out.

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This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. Common Health Topics. Blood pH. Metabolic alkalosis Respiratory alkalosis. Acid-Base Balance.

Test your knowledge. Hypoglycemia is an abnormally low level of sugar glucose in the blood. However, external alkali load may accumulate rapidly due to impaired alkali secretary capacity. The postulated causes of persistence of alkalemia and our failure to treat it adequately are:. Inadequate respiratory compensation - Fever and later acute SDH probably prevented hypoventilation and compensation.

Elective ventilation and permissive hypercarbia might have been a heroic attempt at achieving a more acceptable blood pH had we not underestimated the refractoriness of the alkalemia. Although conventional hemodialysis can correct severe alkalemia and volume overload,[ 12 , 13 ] special low bicarbonate baths may be more helpful in managing severe alkalemia.

The same goals can be achieved by continuous arteriovenous or venovenous hemofiltration with sodium chloride as the replacement solution. Loss of gastric acid can be reduced by administering H 2 -receptor blockers or proton pump inhibitors, which substitute loss of sodium chloride for loss of hydrochloric acid. It is more readily available than sterile hydrochloric acid or ammonium chloride.

High doses may cause prolonged neurologic disturbance in these patients. Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U.

Indian J Crit Care Med. Swagata Tripathy. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Correspondence: Dr. E-mail: moc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Metabolic alkalosis is a commonly seen imbalance in the intensive care unit ICU. Keywords: Extreme metabolic alkalosis, respiratory compensation, treatment.

Case Reports A year-old man presented to the emergency department with the complaints of weakness, difficulty in breathing, decreased appetite and absolute constipation for ten days. Table 1 Parameter on admission of patient 1 and 2w. Open in a separate window. Table 2 Arterial Blood Gas values. Patient 2 A year-old man with past history of hypertension and chronic renal failure was admitted to our hospital complaining of high grade fever, vomiting and diarrhoea for the past week.

Table 3 Major adverse consequences of severe alkalemia. Discussion Metabolic alkalosis has been classified traditionally as chloride responsive and chloride non responsive varieties.

The postulated causes of persistence of alkalemia and our failure to treat it adequately are: Inadequate respiratory compensation - Fever and later acute SDH probably prevented hypoventilation and compensation. Hypoalbuminemia potentiated the alkalosis. References 1.

Alkalemia-associated morbidity and mortality in medical and surgical patients. South Med J.