Increases in blood pH indicate alkalemia. Increases can be a result of a respiratory (or metabolic) disturbance.
<h3>What causes the pH of the blood to increase?</h3>
Losing too much water from your body can increase blood ph. This happens because you also lose some blood electrolytes — salts and minerals — with water loss. These include sodium and potassium.
The body's pH level is critical to the functioning of the bodies cells. A pH in the range of 7.35 to 7.45 is considered "normal", although a large number of doctors get nervous if the pH is towards the outer edges of that range. If your pH gets down to 6.9, you'll be a coma. At 6.8, you're dead. And if the pH goes up to 7.8, you're also dead.
The hydrogen ion concentrations for pH = 7.35 and pH = 7.45 are 4.46 x 10⁻⁸ M and 3.54 x 10⁻⁸ M respectively.
When the pH of a solution is less than 7, the hydrogen ion concentration is higher and therefore the solution is acidic.
On the other hand, when the pH of a solution is greater than 7, hydroxide ion concentration is higher and the solution acts as a base.
The normal pH range of blood is given as 7.35 - 7.45 which is greater than 7. That means blood is slight basic in nature.
Let us find hydroxide ion concentration of blood.
The hydrogen ion concentration for pH = 7.35 is 4.46 x 10⁻⁸ M
Calculation of [H+] for pH = 7.45
pOH = 6.55
[OH-] = 2.82 x 10⁻⁷
Similarly, for pH = 7.45, we get hydrogen ion concentration of 3.54 x 10⁻⁸ M.
