alkalosis
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GC: n

S: MSD – https://msdmnls.co/2FS1I4C (last access: 1 December 2018); HLN – https://goo.gl/JTQPgN (last access: 28 November 2018).

N: 1. From noun “alkali” (late 14c., “soda ash,” from Medieval Latin alkali, from Arabic al-qaliy “the ashes, burnt ashes” -of saltwort, which abounds in soda due to growing in alkaline soils-, from qala “to roast in a pan”; later extended to similar substances, natural or manufactured; the modern chemistry sense is from 1813) and word-forming element “-osis” (expressing state or condition, in medical terminology denoting “a state of disease,” from Latin -osis and directly from Greek -osis, formed from the aorist of verbs ending in -o; it corresponds to Latin -atio).

2. Alkalosis is a pathological condition resulting from accumulation of base in, or loss of acid from, the blood or body tissues.
3. The two main types of alkalosis:

  • Metabolic alkalosis results from either acid loss (which may be caused by severe vomiting or by the use of potent diuretics `substances that promote production of urine´) or bicarbonate gain (which may be caused by excessive intake of bicarbonate or by the depletion of body fluid volume).
  • Respiratory alkalosis is a disturbance in acid and base balance due to alveolar hyperventilation. Alveolar hyperventilation leads to a decreased partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2). In turn, the decrease in PaCO2 increases the ratio of bicarbonate concentration to PaCO2 and, thereby, increases the pH level; thus the descriptive term respiratory alkalosis. The decrease in PaCO2 (hypocapnia) develops when a strong respiratory stimulus causes the respiratory system to remove more carbon dioxide than is produced metabolically in the tissues.

4. Cultural Interrelation: The Andromeda strain (1971) is a cinematographic adaptation of the book of the same name by Michael Crichton (1969). One of the characters has respiratory alkalosis.
S: 1. OED – https://goo.gl/8ubJwr; https://goo.gl/b4N18N (last access: 28 November 2018). 2. WHO – https://goo.gl/v22HZ9 (last access: 28 November 2018). 3. MEDSCAPE – https://goo.gl/Dc8XMR (last access: 28 November 2018); EncBrit – https://goo.gl/Vbkagd (last access: 28 November 2018). 4. BLM I – https://goo.gl/S9MLwj (last access: 28 November 2018).

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CR: artery, CO2.