Answer:
The best answer to the question: Recovery from a severe metabolic acidosis is most dependent on which of the following? would be, D: Arterial pH.
Explanation:
When a person reaches such a severe situation, as having metabolic acidosis, then it means that his body systems are not being able to use the mechanisms to restore the normal acid-base balance within it. Normally, a person needs to have an acid-base balance of 7.35 to 7.45. Drops below or above these numbers will result in acidosis or alkalosis and in severe problems. The way that the body can tell if there is something going on with the pH levels in the blood is through a series of chemoreceptors, especially in the neck, that constantly measures the amount of CO2 molecules in the blood and especially, the pH (acidity or alkalinity) given by the excessive presence, or absence, of acids in the blood. There is another ration that is important for the body, and it is the presence of bicarbonate ions, which will help balance out the amount of H+ ions produced by normal cell function, or increased cell function. In metabolic acidosis, the amount of H+ vs. bicarbonate ions is immense, H+ winning by far over bicarnonate, and a series of steps are taken by the body to restore the 20:1 ratio, and especially return the pH to its normal range. All mechanisms point towards that one measure: pH. Once the level of pH has been reached, we can tell a person is finally coming out of metabolic, or recovering from, metabolic acidosis.
