Hi all,
I have been reading up on the tests Labcorp offers and how they are performed. It looks like the test for blood CO2 is actually a test for bicarbonate and not a direct measure of CO2. The reason I am asking this question is that several websites suggest that high bicarbonate is associated with alkaline blood (which makes sense of course) and low level are associated with acidic blood. So, if CO2 acidified the blood it would suggest that it is low bicarbonate levels we want, not the other way around. Btw, the drug acetazolamide works by doing two things - increases excretion of bicarbonate through the kidneys (which makes the blood acidic) and also reduced conversion of CO2 into bicarbonate. Also, aspirin in higher doses acidified the blood and has been know to cause low bicarbonate levels and even metabolic acidosis in some people. Here are some links.
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding ... /tab/test/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetazolamide
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/442088
The above links suggest that what we need is to measure PaCO2 and not bicarbonate levels. It also suggests that we want LOW bicarbonate levels as shown on the standard CO2 tests done as part of a metabolic panel. High bicarbonate levels are associated with alkaline blood and cellular state, which is something Peat views as bad.
And finally this link says that alkalosis is caused by either high blood bicarbonate or low CO2, or combination of both. So, bicarbonate and CO2 in blood do seem to be inversely correlated.
http://www.healthline.com/health/alkalosis#Causes2
Am I misreading and/or misunderstanding something?
Thanks in advance.
I have been reading up on the tests Labcorp offers and how they are performed. It looks like the test for blood CO2 is actually a test for bicarbonate and not a direct measure of CO2. The reason I am asking this question is that several websites suggest that high bicarbonate is associated with alkaline blood (which makes sense of course) and low level are associated with acidic blood. So, if CO2 acidified the blood it would suggest that it is low bicarbonate levels we want, not the other way around. Btw, the drug acetazolamide works by doing two things - increases excretion of bicarbonate through the kidneys (which makes the blood acidic) and also reduced conversion of CO2 into bicarbonate. Also, aspirin in higher doses acidified the blood and has been know to cause low bicarbonate levels and even metabolic acidosis in some people. Here are some links.
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding ... /tab/test/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetazolamide
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/442088
The above links suggest that what we need is to measure PaCO2 and not bicarbonate levels. It also suggests that we want LOW bicarbonate levels as shown on the standard CO2 tests done as part of a metabolic panel. High bicarbonate levels are associated with alkaline blood and cellular state, which is something Peat views as bad.
And finally this link says that alkalosis is caused by either high blood bicarbonate or low CO2, or combination of both. So, bicarbonate and CO2 in blood do seem to be inversely correlated.
http://www.healthline.com/health/alkalosis#Causes2
Am I misreading and/or misunderstanding something?
Thanks in advance.