A pathologic state characterized by an increase in the concentration of hydrogen ions in the arterial blood above the normal level, 40 nmol/L, or pH 7.4; may be caused by an accumulation of carbon dioxide or acidic products of metabolism, or by a decrease in the concentration of alkaline compounds. [acid + G. -osis, condition]
- compensated a. an a. in which the pH of body fluids is normal; compensation is achieved by respiratory or renal mechanisms.
- compensated respiratory a. retention of bicarbonate by the renal tubules to minimize the effect on the pH of the blood of retention of carbon dioxide by the lungs, such as occurs with hypoventilation.
- hypercapnic a. SYN: respiratory a..
- lactic a. a type of metabolic a. caused by accumulation of lactic acid due to tissue hypoxia, drug effect, or unknown etiology.
- metabolic a. decreased pH and bicarbonate concentration in the body fluids caused either by the accumulation of acids or by abnormal losses of fixed base from the body, as in diarrhea or renal disease.
- primary renal tubular a. a metabolic defect in the mechanism of urinary acidification that may be either the transient type, with onset in infancy, or the persistent type, with onset in childhood or adult years; both types are familial.
- renal tubular a. a clinical syndrome characterized by decreased ability to acidify urine, and by low plasma bicarbonate and high plasma chloride concentrations, often with hypokalemia; often complicated by osteomalacia, nephrocalcinosis, or renal calculi. SEE ALSO: primary renal tubular a., secondary renal tubular a.. SYN: hyperchloremic a..
- respiratory a. a. caused by retention of carbon dioxide; due to inadequate pulmonary ventilation or hypoventilation, with decrease in blood pH unless compensated by renal retention of bicarbonate. SYN: carbon dioxide a., hypercapnic a..
- secondary renal tubular a. renal tubular a. that may occur as a complication of hypercalcemic states, hyperglobulinemic disorders, and in some other chronic renal conditions; a regular component of De Toni-Fanconi syndrome.
- starvation a. ketoacidosis resulting from lack of food intake, leading to fat catabolism to provide energy, releasing acidic ketone bodies.
- uncompensated a. an a. in which the pH of body fluids is subnormal, because restoration of normal acid-base balance is not possible or has not yet been achieved.
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ac·i·do·sis .as-ə-'dō-səs n, pl -do·ses -.sēz an abnormal condition of reduced alkalinity of the blood and tissues that is marked by sickly sweet breath, headache, nausea and vomiting, and visual disturbances and is usu. a result of excessive acid production compare ALKALOSIS, KETOSIS (1)
ac·i·dot·ic -'dät-ik adj
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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. In renal acidosis, kidney failure results in excessive loss of bicarbonate or retention of phosphoric and sulphuric acids. Patients with diabetes mellitus suffer from ketoacidosis, in which sodium, potassium, and ketone bodies are lost in the urine. See also lactic acidosis.
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ac·i·do·sis (as″ĭ-doґsis) 1. the accumulation of acid and hydrogen ions or depletion of the alkaline reserve (bicarbonate content) in the blood and body tissues, resulting in a decrease in pH. 2. the pathologic condition resulting from this process; see also acidemia. Cf. alkalosis. acidosic acidotic adjMedical dictionary. 2011.