Question

Would dialysis have an affect acid-base balance within the body? If so, how?

Answer 1

Yes, dialysis would have an affect acid-base balance within the body.

Explanation:

Acid–base homeostasis is the homeostatic regulation of the pH of the body's extracellular fluid (ECF). The proper balance between the acids and bases (i.e. the pH) in the ECF is crucial for the normal physiology of the body, and cellular metabolism.The pH of the intracellular fluid and the extracellular fluid need to be maintained at a constant level.

In humans and many other animals, acid–base homeostasis is maintained by multiple mechanisms involved in three lines of defence.

The third line of defence is the renal system, which can add or remove bicarbonate ions to or from the ECF.

The bicarbonate is derived from metabolic carbon dioxide which is enzymatically converted to carbonic acid in the renal tubular cells.

The carbonic acid spontaneously dissociates into hydrogen ions and bicarbonate ions. When the pH in the ECF tends to fall (i.e. become more acidic) the hydrogen ions are excreted into the urine, while the bicarbonate ions are secreted into the blood plasma, causing the plasma pH to rise (correcting the initial fall).

The converse happens if the pH in the ECF tends to rise: the bicarbonate ions are then excreted into the urine and the hydrogen ions into the blood plasma.

Effect of dialysis:

Dialysis machines work by using diffusion and ultrafiltration. A very fine material, called a membrane, allows blood and fluid to flow through it. In the machine, the blood flows in one direction, and on the other side of the membrane, a special fluid, dialysate flows in the opposite direction, this process is known as osmosis.

Dialysate is a fluid that has different chemicals in it, such as potassium and calcium. The dialysate has bicarbonate in it to lower the higher acid levels that these patients often have. The blood and dialysate mix together. The waste products are removed from the blood and caught up in the fine membrane.

So, the patient may get an acid - base imbalance if the acids are removed in high concentrations from the blood by Dialysate, which is referred as Alkalosis.

An alkalosis refers to a rise in the concentration of bicarbonate in the ECF, or to a fall on the partial pressure of carbon dioxide, either of which would on their own raise the pH of the ECF above the normal value.