Reading through this chart and sections of the Anatomy and Physiology text book* helped me to understand that the terms respiratory acidosis and alkalosis are strictly related to respiratory function and are reflective of the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. Metabolic acidosis and alkalosis are reflective of other acid-base balances in the blood, and present with an effect on the GI tract.
The chemical buffer systems that affect the body's pH were relatively familiar territory based on previous lectures over the last three semester. Understanding that hydrogen ion is the predominant ion that makes the blood more acidic comes from a Bio-100 lecture concerning the acid-base system. We looked further into the hydrogen ion in this class in discussing how carbon dioxide is carried in the blood. In Bio-100 we also discussed the process of glycolysis, where glucose products were broken down in an anaerobic environment that caused the release of lactic acid. The key point here is that for every action in the body, there is also a reaction. That is where the chemical buffering systems like the bicarbonate buffer system, the phosphate buffer system and the protein buffer system come into play. Any time one of the above actions occur releasing acids into the blood, one of the chemical buffering systems reacts to maintain the narrow range of pH required for homeostasis.
Understanding that the kidneys and lungs are the two most vital organs in managing the body's changes in pH comes from an understanding of how these organs work and what they're "job" in the body is. The lungs help to maintain the body's pH by expelling carbon dioxide through respiration while the kidneys excrete other acids that are a by-product of cellular metabolism such as lactic and uric acids.
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