A substance that is normally present in the blood which is measured in the biochemistry blood test A low blood level of bicarbonate shows there is too much acid in the blood
Essential for regulating vital functions and one of the important buffers necessary to maintain normal acid-base balance in the body Body metabolism results in mainly acid production, and neutralizing some of such acids is its constant activity, thus it plays a key role in metabolic acidosis or alkalosis Bicarbonate may be lost through watery feces, or can decrease when lungs cannot expel carbon dioxide
In acid-base determinations the concentration (in milliequivalents per liter) of the bicarbonate ion (HCO3-) is calculated from the PCO2 and pH Because it is also altered by both the respiratory and the metabolic components (see below under Physiology), it cannot be an ideal measure of either
A carbonate in which but half the hydrogen of the acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, thus making the proportion of the acid to the positive or basic portion twice what it is in the normal carbonates; an acid carbonate; sometimes called supercarbonate