In: Biology
People with the chronic lung disease emphysema cannot exchange gases in the lungs as well as healthy people. What, if any, effect will emphysema have on the kidney’s secretion or reabsorption of bicarbonate? Justify your response.
Emphysema is a lungs disease. The alveoli are the areas of the lung where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged into and out of the blood. Emphysema makes it hard for people to blow air out of the lungs because air gets trapped inside the broken alveoli due to the collapse of the walls.
Symptoms are:- frequent lung infections,a lot of mucus, wheezing, reduced appetite and weight loss, fatigue, blue-tinged lips or fingernail beds, or cyanosis, due to a lack of oxygen, anxiety and depression, and sleep problems.
Causes for Emphysema are Tobacco smoke, Marijuana smoke, Air pollution and Chemical fumes and dust.
In severe conditions , rather than airflow obstruction, is associated with kidney dysfunction in tobacco smokers, independent of common risk factors for kidney disease. The mechanisms and clinical implications of kidney dysfunction in patients with emphysema need further investigation.
When kidneys don't have enough oxygen, they produce a protein called erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates red blood cell production. The new knowledge could apply to diseases characterized by hypoxia, such as pulmonary hypertension.
Acute respiratory acidosis – Bicarbonate increases by 1 mEq/L for each 10-mm Hg rise in PaCO2. The acute change in bicarbonate is, therefore, relatively modest and is generated by the blood, extracellular fluid, and cellular buffering system.
In COPD patients, chronically elevated carbon dioxide shifts the normal acid-base balance toward acidic. There is the retention of carbon dioxide which is hydrated to form carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is a weak and volatile acid that quickly dissociates to form hydrogen and bicarbonate ions.