Respiratory Acidosis Lab Values – Overview
Respiratory Acidosis is a condition where your lungs are not able to remove Co2 produced from your body. Excess amount of Co2 in the body increases the number of fluids and the pH of the blood. The fluids become acidic and the condition is called respiratory acidosis.
Respiratory Acidosis Lab Values and everything you want to know about this test are given in this article.
What is Respiratory Acidosis?
Respiratory Acidosis occurs when your lungs can’t remove Co2 produced by the body properly. Other than this, respiratory diseases such as emphysema, chronic obstructive airway disease, bronchopneumonia, and many other diseases cause respiratory acidosis.
Besides this, some drugs affect the overall functionality of respiratory diseases. If you are taking such medicines, you’ll experience breathing problems, heart burning, etc. It is also a part of respiratory acidosis.
Types of Respiratory Acidosis
Respiratory Acidosis Lab Values – Types of Respiratory Acidosis
Respiratory Acidosis is subcategorized into three types. More information about the types of respiratory acidosis is given below:
Type 1: Acute Respiratory Acidosis
Acute respiratory acidosis is a condition where your body stops removing Co2 suddenly. Acute respiratory acidosis acts as a heart attack, it comes faster and requires quick medical treatment.
This type of respiratory acidosis requires emergency medical services to save the sufferer.
Type 2: Chronic Respiratory Acidosis
Chronic Respiratory Acidosis is caused by chemoreceptors that are connected to your brain. The chemoreceptors are responsible to provide gases to your blood.
They decide which gases are crucial and which are not. When these receptors become less sensitive, chronic respiratory acidosis disease occurs.
This type of respiratory acidosis develops gradually and it doesn’t show up any symptoms.
Type 3: Acute and Chronic Respiratory Acidosis
In some cases, chronic respiratory acidosis develops an additional illness that disturbs our ventilation procedure. This situation makes your condition even worsen. The symptoms of this type may not be encountered.
This type of respiratory acidosis is known as acute and chronic respiratory acidosis which is a combination of both types.
What are the symptoms of Respiratory Acidosis?
If you are developing respiratory acidosis, your body will show up the below-given signs. The following symptoms are acute respiratory acidosis.
- Anxiety
- Headache
- Breathlessness
- Restlessness
- Blurry vision
- Personality changes
- Sleeplessness
As noted above, when the person is developing chronic respiratory acidosis, there may not be any symptoms noticed. However, the following signs may show up gradually:
- Polycythemia
- Memory loss
- Problems to co-ordinate
- Constant headache and sleepiness
- Heart failure
What causes Respiratory Acidosis?
In the human body, the pH of the blood cells is controlled by the lungs and kidneys. The lungs remove Co2 from our body through breathing, while the kidneys remove excess acids through urination.
Respiratory Acidosis develops when your lungs are not performing well or if your kidneys are having some problems. Your doctor would prescribe you several blood tests to confirm the type of disease.
Respiratory Acidosis Lab Values:
Respiratory Acidosis report includes the number of arterial gases, which includes pH, PaCo2, PaO2, HCO3, O2, etc. The report includes the amount of all of these gases. The normal values of arterial gases are as follows:
- pH: 7.35 to 7.45 (Average Value of pH: 7.40)
- PaCo2: 35 to 45 mmHg
- PaO2: 75 to 100 mmHg
- HCO3: 22 to 26 mEq/L
- O2: Greater than 95%
These are the normal respiratory acidosis lab values. Make sure to discuss these values with your doctor. Your doctor would first check the reports and then decide the type of treatment or medicines to cure the disease.
What is the Procedure for Diagnosing Respiratory Acidosis?
The condition of respiratory acidosis is directly associated with the pH of our blood. Firstly, the doctor would notice the pH imbalance of your blood. If he found an imbalance in blood pH, he will further check the severity of this imbalanced pH, and at last, he will identify the cause behind this condition.
Thankfully, modern doctors have several tools to examine the pH and other gases of blood quickly.
Furthermore, the blood gases measurement report checks the value of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood. If the report shows a high level of Co2, it means the person is suffering from respiratory acidosis.
Moreover, the electrolyte testing process also helps diagnose respiratory acidosis. This report checks the number of minerals in our blood such as chloride, bicarbonate, potassium, sodium, etc.
If the person has an acid imbalance, two or more minerals show high or low values.
And lastly, X-ray and lung function tests would further clarify the doubts about respiratory acidosis. These reports are done at the last.
Treatments of Respiratory Acidosis
How to treat Acute Respiratory Acidosis?
Acute respiratory is a medical emergency and it must be treated quickly. Your doctor would give you life support until he founds the reason behind it. You would be given artificial ventilation through a machine to regulate your respiratory system.
How to treat Chronic Respiratory Acidosis?
If a person is suffering from chronic respiratory acidosis, the doctor would first clear the airways so that he can breathe properly. Chronic respiratory acidosis can be treated through medications such as antibiotics.
Moreover, diuretics will be given to reduce the buildup of unwanted fluids in the lungs and heart. Mechanical ventilation will also be given to clear the airways. Since the disease is related to the respiratory system, it must be cured faster.
The Bottom Line:
Respiratory Acidosis is a life-threatening condition if not treated on time. The disease has many causes, one can’t figure out what causes this problem.
However, once the problem is identified, get the right treatment to regulate your respiratory system. Smoke less, eat healthy food, and do regular workouts to keep your respiratory system strong.
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