Respiratory acidosis can occur when the lungs don’t expel enough carbon dioxide when you exhale (8).
Causes include:
- Lung disorders, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis), severe asthma, pneumonia, or pulmonary edema
- Sleep-disordered breathing (e.g., sleep apnea)
- Disorders of the nerves or muscles of the chest that impair breathing, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Overdose of drugs such as alcohol, opioids, and strong sedatives (these slow breathing and reduce oxygen intake)
- Severe obesity
- Scoliosis
Symptoms of Acidosis
Acidosis won’t necessarily cause pain, which is an obvious indicator of illness, so it’s helpful to know how acidosis may show itself.
Symptoms include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Drowsiness
- anxiety
- blurred vision
- confusion
- sleepiness or fatigue
- lethargy
- delirium or confusion
- shortness of breath
- coma
- Obesity, slow metabolism, and inability to lose weight
- Chronic inflammation
- Hypertension
- Diabetes
- Bladder and kidney conditions, including kidney stones
- Weakened immunity
- Weakened bones: osteoporosis, fractures, and bone spurs
- Joint and muscle pain
- Low energy and chronic fatigue
- Mood swings
- Slow digestion and elimination
Acidosis and Cancer
Acidosis is associated with the eventual development of cancer. Keiichi Morishita, MD published a book in 1976 entitled Hidden Truth of Cancer. In it, Dr. Morishita explains the link between an acidic pH environment and cancer:
“Medical science believes that cancer is incurable (another name for death). A diagnosis of cancer means a death sentence. This is nothing but a proof of the incompetence of modern medicine. However, cancer is not such an incurable, deadly disease.
“Modern scientists tend to consider only the factors existing outside of and neglect the factors existing within our body. The most important determinant of such factors within is our food. Modern industrialized and commercialized foods contain many poisons or carcinogens…Even drugs sometimes cause cancer. For example, nitrogen mustard has been used as an anti-cancer drug but it has also had the effect of causing cancer.
“Generally speaking, the cause of cancer rests in the culmination of living conditions which have produced ill effects to the body cells. From the point of view of the cell, the cause of cancer is the malfunction of the respiratory system within the cells which results in the cell metabolism depending upon its fermenting oxidation. All living conditions which produce such a cell metabolism should be considered as the cause of cancer. Synthetic chemicals, radiations and acidification of the blood weaken the constitution of the body, and are a few of the factors which make up such living conditions. Therefore, the cure of cancer is the elimination or correction of such living conditions.” (9)