Re: vinager acidosis
Metabolic, respiratory, correcting, corrected, uncorrected, and besides daily acetic acid intake (how many decades had that been going on) what was her sig PMH? All acidosis'
aren't the same...in my book anyway...but again...i'm just a nurse.
No matter her history, household vinegar (~5%) is a very weak acetic acid (pH ~ 2.9), whereas the gastric juices typically consist of a strong acid (hydrochloric - pH ~ 1ish..fluctuates naturally...but i think 2 to 3 is pretty standard normal gastric lumen pH).
Can you hurt yourself by chronically ingesting weak acidic fluids...of course, but i imagine it would more than likely present as oral/esophageal/pharyngeal - and then probably as an erosion.
Bulimics will present with erosions (remember, they are puking up pH ~1 through the oropharynx) to dental enamel and may be in alkalosis from always dumping their gastric contents. Does chronic ingestion of a weak acid (less that normal gastric lumen pH) cause the secretory mechanism to lower gastric pH?
If vomiting can lead to alkolosis, then wouldn't supplementation of gastric juice lead to a low production of HCL? Again, chronic versus acute versus underlying disease processes plays a part in the decision making process.
In the end, I think ABGs on room air, Chem 21, and urine combined with good Hx would help determine why she is acidotic. Who knows...maybe it's from too much vinegar drinking
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