Danielle Shull

January 24th, 2017

Patho 108
Chapter 2 Critical Thinking Questions Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Imbalances
1.) Very high hydrostatic pressure in the venule end of a capillary affects fluid by
preventing the return of fluid from the interstitial compartment to the venous
end. This increases blood pressure and can cause pulmonary edema,
hypervolemia, CHF.
2.) A loss of plasma proteins affects the fluid shift in the capillaries because
plasma proteins usually remain inside the capillary and rarely move through
the semipermeable capillary membrane. Fewer plasma proteins in the
capillary allows more fluid to leave and less to return to the venous end.
3.) When there is a high concentration of sodium ion levels, they promote
accumulation of fluid in the interstitial compartment by increasing the ISF
osmotic pressure and decreasing the return of fluid to the blood. This causes
an increase in blood pressure and blood volume.
4.) The lymph nodes filter and if there is damage or inflammation in the area
where a blood draw, injection or IV has occurred the fluid will build up and
have no place to be filtered and go. This will create painful and life
threatening edema in the arm.
5.) If there is poor circulation as well the gravity does not allow the excess fluid
to circulate throughout the body. When lying down there is less gravitational
pull of the fluid to the feet and legs and it allows for systemic circulation to
occur.
6.) Excessive perspiration and fever creates a loss of sodium chloride which
results in hyponatremia and hypochloremia and ending in dehydration.
Respiratory alkalosis can occur from because of the increased respirations
which cause a decrease in carbon dioxide or metabolic alkalosis is serum
bicarbonate increases.
7.) Hyperparathyroidism parathyroid glands secrete PTH that helps the body
maintain normal blood calcium levels. When the parathyroid gland(s)
become overactive and secretes large amounts of PTH, the blood calcium
levels increase. This can cause bone disease when calcium is reabsorbed
from bone, bone density decreases which increases the risk of bone fractures.
Renal failure can develop from such large levels of serum calcium because it
impairs the kidney function by affecting the kidneys ability to filter the blood.
Increased calcium levels increase blood pressure which puts more work on
the heart. Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the gut and maintains
adequate serum calcium levels for normal bone mineralization as well.
8.) When hydrogen ion levels increase, chemoreceptors stimulate the respiratory
control center to increase the respiratory rate, which removes more carbon
dioxide or acid from the body. This causes the body to retain more carbon
dioxide and increases acid levels in the body.
9.) In a patient with low blood pressure, poor blow flow to the cells and increase
in lactic acid, compensation by the lungs is inadequate because the lungs can
only remove carbon dioxide, not other acids and they cannot produce
 bicarbonate, dialysis may be a treatment required to maintain the serum pH.
The patient may experience rapid and deep respirations and the kidneys will
excrete more acid and increase more bicarbonate absorption.
10.) It would be so dangerous because when breathing is suppressed the
body holds CO2 in the body. The body tries to compensate by conserving
HCO3 ions and eliminating H+ ions in the acidic urine. However if the
kidneys have decreased function, then the H+ ions are not excreted through
the urine.