Acidosis Health Dictionary

A general term for a number of conditions arising from an abnormal breakdown of fats with rapid consumption of carbohydrates. Diabetic, oxybutyric acids and other allied bodies appear in the urine. Diagnosis may be confirmed by a smell of acetone on the breath.

Causes. Diet too rich in fats, inability to digest fats. May be associated with diabetes, starvation wasting diseases and liverish attacks; when followed by coma, situation is serious.

Symptoms. Physical weakness, pallor, lethargy, acid stools, constant yawning, constipation, diarrhoea – in severe cases, jaundice. A liver tonic would be an ingredient of a prescription (Barberry, Balmony, Dandelion, Mulberry, Wahoo).

A reduced alkalinity of the blood allows acidosis to take over. Symptoms of diabetic coma when due to salt deficiency profoundly affects the chemistry of the blood.

Alternatives. Teas: Agrimony, Balm (lemon), Bogbean, Boldo, Centuary, Chamomile, Cleavers, Dandelion, Fumitory, Hyssop, Meadowsweet, Motherwort, Wormwood.

Tea. Formula: equal parts, Balm, Chamomile and Dandelion. 1 heaped teaspoon to each cup boiling water, infuse 10 minutes; dose – 1 cup thrice daily.

Tablets/capsules. Seaweed and Sarsaparilla, Blue Flag, Goldenseal, Wild Yam, Yellow Dock.

Potter’s Acidosis tablets: Anise oil, Caraway oil, Cinnamon, Meadowsweet, Rhubarb, Medicinal Charcoal.

Formula. Equal parts: Dandelion, Blue Flag, Meadowsweet. Mix. Dose: Powders: 500mg; Liquid extracts: 30-60 drops; Tinctures: 1-2 teaspoons thrice daily.

Goldenseal tincture: 1-2ml thrice daily.

Diet. Vigorous cutback in food-fats, especially dairy products. Readily assimilable form of carbohydrate (honey), replenishing stores in the liver without working that organ too hard. Restore body chemistry. Kelp instead of salt. Powdered skimmed milk, yoghurt, plantmilk made from Soya bean. Pectin foods: raw apples help solidify the stool. Bananas, carrots, carob flour products. Vitamin B complex, B6, Folic ac., Niacin, Pantothenic acid. See: CAROB BEAN. 

A disturbance of the body’s acid–base balance in which there is an accumulation of acid or loss of alkali (base). There are 2 types of acidosis: metabolic and respiratory.

One form of metabolic acidosis is ketoacidosis, which occurs in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and starvation. Metabolic acidosis may also be caused by loss of bicarbonate (an alkali) as a result of severe diarrhoea. In kidney failure, there is insufficient excretion of acid in the urine.

Respiratory acidosis occurs if breathing fails to remove enough carbon dioxide from the lungs.

The excess carbon dioxide remains in the bloodstream, where it dissolves to form carbonic acid.

Impaired breathing leading to respiratory acidosis may be due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (see pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive), bronchial asthma, or airway obstruction.

Acidosis is a condition in which there is either a production in the body of two abnormal acids – beta-hydroxybutyric and acetoacetic acids; or a diminution in the alkali reserve of the blood.

Causes The condition is usually due to faulty metabolism of fat, resulting in the production of beta-hydroxybutyric and acetoacetic acids. It occurs in DIABETES MELLITUS when this is either untreated or inadequately treated, as well as in starvation, persistent vomiting, and delayed anaesthetic vomiting. It also occurs in the terminal stages of glomerulonephritis (see KIDNEYS, DISEASES OF), when it is due to failure of the kidneys. A milder form of it may occur in severe fevers, particularly in children. (See also ACETONE.)

Symptoms General lassitude, vomiting, thirst, restlessness, and the presence of acetone in the urine form the earliest manifestations of the condition. In diabetes a state of COMA may ensue and the disease end fatally.

Treatment The underlying condition must always be treated: for example, if the acidosis is due to diabetes mellitus then insulin must be given. Sodium bicarbonate (see SODIUM) is rarely necessary for diabetic ketoacidosis; if it is used, it is invariably now given intravenously. Acidosis might be treated with oral sodium bicarbonate in cases of chronic renal failure. Anaesthetists dislike the administration of bicarbonate to acidotic patients, since there is some evidence that it can make intracellular acidosis worse. They almost always use HYPERVENTILATION of the arti?cially ventilated patient to correct acidosis.

Specifically, the abnormal buildup of acids in the body, classically caused by diabetes or kidney disease. Broadly, the potential caused by increased protein intake or metabolism, coupled with inadequate intake (or loss) of alkali.

n. a condition in which the acidity of body fluids and tissues is abnormally high. This arises because of a failure of the mechanisms responsible for maintaining a balance between acids and alkalis in the blood (see acid-base balance). In gaseous acidosis more than the normal amount of carbon dioxide is retained in the body, as in drowning. Patients with diabetes mellitus suffer from *diabetic ketoacidosis, in which sodium, potassium, and *ketone bodies are lost in the urine. See also lactic acidosis; renal tubular acidosis.