Chronic Hyperventilation Syndrome
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- Occurs under stresses of daily living
- Commonly goes undiagnosed for years, as physicians refer patients from one to another
- Carbon dioxide drives our breathing, not oxygen
- Carbon dioxide is primary regulator of blood pH
- Hyperventilation washes carbon dioxide from the lungs creating a state of hypocapnia
- pH of blood changes in alkaline direction
- During long term hyperventilation, kidneys dump bicarbonate to maintain pH
- This ensures a continued state of chronic hyperventilation
- Change of pH causes a left shift of the oxyhaemoglobin curve
- This increases affinity of haemoglobin to oxygen
- Chronic hyperventilation causes arterial blood vessels to constrict
- This reduces blood flow to organs and systems including brain and heart
- Chronic hyperventilation reduces availability of calcium
- Chickens in Indiana fed carbonated water to ensure good quality egg shells
- Hyperventilation provocation test commonly recognised as diagnostic tool