The medical term for low serum carbon dioxide levels is hypocapnia. It is usually caused by hyperventilation -- known as acute hypocapnia -- but can also result from asthma or hindrances to cerebral autoregulation, which is the disrupted...
Alkaline is referred to as a base, which is significant for neutralizing body acidity levels and maintaining consistent pH balance. Potential of hydrogen, or pH, level reflects the amount of hydrogen in your blood, which is important for...
Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is an end-product of metabolism The body breaks down chemicals such as carbohydrates in food into carbon dioxide to help provide energy for the body. Carbon dioxide combines with water in the blood to make an acid, called...
Brain swelling, known in medical terminology as cerebral edema, is a manifestation of various brain injuries such as cancer or trauma, and is dangerous because it raises the pressure inside the skull. The skull is a thick chamber that is not...
Diagnosing disease is mostly a process of knowing what is "normal" and recognizing what is not. A doctor recognizes a disease by seeing a pattern formed by symptoms and findings during a physical examination. Laboratory tests can confirm these...
Alkalosis is a condition involving excess base, or alkali, in your body fluids. There are two principle types of alkalosis: respiratory and metabolic. Respiratory alkalosis occurs when you develop low carbon dioxide levels in your blood, and...
The dangers of alkaline arise when your body reaches a state known as alkalosis. This occurs when fluids in your body have excess base or alkali. Lower carbon dioxide or higher bicarbonate levels make your body too alkaline. Low carbon dioxide...
PH is the measure of how acidic or alkaline a substance is. In the human body, the pH levels must be maintained within a narrow range. Acids are a product of normal metabolic processes, and, when the body is functioning properly, they are buffered...
Blood gases are the dissolved gases in the bloodstream, namely oxygen and carbon dioxide. These gases are measured by taking a sample of blood from an artery, usually the wrist and measuring the partial pressure of the dissolved gases in the...
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can be a precursor to heart disease, kidney failure, stroke and other diseases. In many cases hypertension is not detected because it rarely has early symptoms. Hypotension, or low blood pressure, can also be...
Breathing, an anatomical and physiological process, occurs without a thought until something goes wrong. Respiratory acidosis or alkalosis indicate two such occasions. Inadequate ventilation leads to acidosis, and excessive ventilation causes...
Breathing and the regulation of oxygen and carbon dioxide would not be possible without our lungs. The lungs also aid white blood cells in fighting against infectious agents; mucus, a substance produced in the lungs, traps infectious agents and...
Every time you take a breath your body performs a highly coordinated ballet of biochemical and muscular actions. When you exercise, billions of biochemical reactions take place in your brain, nervous system, muscles and blood that trigger...
A food is classified as either acid- or alkaline-forming based on the pH of the compounds it produces when metabolized. Acid-forming foods generate acidic waste products that a complex set of buffering systems must remove to preserve your...
The ability to take in a complete breath is as important to an asthma sufferer as water is to a fish. Breathing exercises help to strengthen your lungs similar to the ways in which resistance training exercises strengthen your muscles. These...
Breathing is a complex process that brings oxygen into the body and removes carbon dioxide. Though breathing can be controlled voluntarily, it is a function that is usually automatically managed by the brain. The muscle that responsible for...
A panic attack can cause you to lose your breath or breathe too much. Getting your breathing under control, in contrast, can go a long way toward alleviating the physical symptoms of your attack. Understanding how to breathe correctly is the key...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the swine flu, also known as H1N1, is a newer influenza strain that was first detected in the U.S. around April 2009. The H1N1 strain was nicknamed the swine flu because scientists...
Anxiety is a mental state that can cause emotional turmoil and physical symptoms like a pounding heart, sweating, muscle tension and headaches tremors, according to the Help Guide mental health website. It also can affect respiration. There are...
We all breathe, and most of us don't give it a second thought until we have trouble breathing. The simple act of breathing is actually a complicated system of bringing oxygen into the body and exhaling the waste material, carbon dioxide, according...
An understanding of how the respiratory and cardiovascular systems interact requires knowledge of how each of the systems function independently. The cardiovascular system in the human body is made up of the heart and blood vessels, which are...
There are numerous complications associated with lung disease. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or NIH, millions of Americans have lung disease, and as a whole, lung disease is one of the top...
The potential of hydrogen, or pH, is a system that your body uses to stabilize conditions in your body. Your body is a naturally acid-producing environment that requires alkaline compounds to maintain an optimal pH of around 7.4. According to a...
On occasion, you may experience the sensation that your heart is pounding, fluttering or beating with unusual intensity or speed. You might think you're having a heart attack, but it's more likely that you're experiencing heart palpitations....
If you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known as COPD, breathing may be difficult at rest and more difficult during exercise. Work ramps up your need for oxygen and makes extra carbon dioxide. Difficult breathing during exercise can...
When foods are digested, they are classified as either acid or alkaline producing by nature. This is measured by the pH value of the remains after food has been metabolized. While it is important to consume both acid and alkaline foods to keep pH...
The colon is part of the digestive system. Tumors sometimes arise on the inner wall of the colon. They can be benign, also known as polyps, or they can be malignant. Benign polyps can be removed during a colonoscopy. Cancerous tumors can result if...
The word "reishi" refers to the reishi mushroom, scientifically named Ganoderma lucidum. Common Chinese names for the reishi mushroom are ling chih, and ling zhi. Its medicinal value has been touted for thousands of years in East Asia. Recent...
