<unk>  is an acid-base imbalance that is an increased acidity (i.e. an increased hydrogen ion concentration).  If not further qualified, it refers to acidity of the blood plasma.
Generally,<unk>  is said to occur when arterial pH falls below 7.35, while its counterpart (alkalosis) occurs at a pH over 7.45. Arterial blood gas analysis and other tests are required to separate the main causes.
Strictly speaking, the term acidemia would be more appropriate to describe the state of low blood pH, reserving<unk>  to describe the processes leading to these states. Nevertheless, most physicians use the terms interchangeably. The distinction may be relevant where a patient has factors causing both<unk>  and alkalosis, where the relative severity of both determines whether the result is a high or a low pH.
The rate of cellular metabolic activity affects and, at the same time, is affected by the pH of the body fluids. In mammals, the normal pH of arterial blood lies between 7.35 and 7.50 depending on the species (e.g. healthy human-arterial blood pH varies between 7.35 and 7.45). Blood pH values compatible with life in mammals are limited to a pH range between 6.8 and 7.8. Changes in the pH of arterial blood (and therefore the extracellular fluid) outside this range result in irreversible cell damage (Needham, 2004).
Acidosis
Alkalosis
Hypercapnia
Metabolic alkalosis
Hypocapnia
Hypercarbia
Metabolic acidosis
Acid-base imbalance