Lactic Acidosis, Cardiovascular, Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes

Lactic acidosis is closely linked to vascular disease through mechanisms involving hypoperfusion, endothelial dysfunction, and altered hemodynamics. Elevated lactate levels serve as important indicators of metabolic distress and can significantly impact patient outcomes in cardiovascular settings. Understanding these relationships is crucial for developing effective management strategies for individuals affected by vascular diseases.

The presence of elevated lactate often reflects worsening cardiac function and metabolic stress. Blood lactate levels behave differently in acute versus chronic heart failure. During acute episodes, lactate levels can spike significantly due to increased anaerobic metabolism, while chronic heart failure may show stable but elevated lactate levels without dramatic changes.

Elevated lactate levels are often associated with worse outcomes in patients with cardiovascular diseases. For instance, studies have shown that hyperlactatemia correlates with increased mortality rates in patients with acute heart failure and other critical conditions. The presence of high lactate levels can indicate severe underlying pathology and may serve as a prognostic marker for vascular health.

Lactic acidosis is a critical concern in chronic kidney disease due to its association with impaired acid excretion and tissue hypoxia. In Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), the kidney’s ability to excrete acids diminishes as renal function declines. This results in an accumulation of metabolic acids, including lactic acid, particularly when net endogenous acid production exceeds the kidneys’ capacity to excrete it. As the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decreases, the risk of developing metabolic acidosis, including lactic acidosis, increases significantly.

Lactic acidosis often arises from tissue hypoxia, which can occur in CKD due to reduced perfusion and oxygen delivery to tissues. Conditions such as heart failure or sepsis, which are common in patients with CKD, can exacerbate this hypoxic state, leading to increased lactate production through anaerobic metabolism.

Acid-Base Imbalance

Metabolic acidosis is a common complication in CKD, characterized by low serum bicarbonate levels (<22 mmol/L) and increased lactate levels. The presence of lactic acidosis complicates the acid-base balance further and can lead to additional health issues, including muscle wasting and bone demineralization. Studies have shown that hyperlactatemia correlates with higher mortality rates in patients with advanced CKD or those undergoing dialysis. Persistent lactic acidosis can contribute to further renal dysfunction by promoting interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy.

Endothelial Dysfunction

Lactic acidosis can contribute to endothelial dysfunction, characterized by impaired vasodilation and increased inflammation within blood vessels. This dysfunction is particularly relevant in chronic conditions like atherosclerosis, where vascular health is already compromised.

In addition to its effects on hemodynamics, lactate plays a role in metabolic regulation within the cardiovascular system. It can influence energy metabolism in cardiac tissues and modulate the function of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), potentially promoting pathological changes associated with vascular disease.

Lactic acidosis serves as a crucial clinical marker in the context of heart disease, indicating compromised tissue oxygenation and metabolic distress. Understanding its mechanisms and implications helps healthcare providers manage patients more effectively, particularly those with acute or advanced heart failure. Monitoring lactate levels can aid in assessing severity and guiding therapeutic interventions to improve patient outcomes.

Lactic acidosis is a form of metabolic acidosis. Lactic acidosis is a condition in which there is too much acid in the body. In people with lactic acidosis, problems with the liver (and sometimes with the kidneys) make these organs unable to remove extra acid from their bodies. If lactate builds up in the body faster than it can be removed, acid levels spike in bodily fluids like blood.

This buildup of acid causes an imbalance in the body’s pH level, which should always be slightly basic or alkaline instead of acidic.

Lactate buildup occurs when there’s not enough oxygen in the muscles to break down or metabolize, the blood sugars glucose and glycogen. Metabolism without oxygen is called anaerobic metabolism.

Ignore Bicarbonates and CO2 at Your Own Risk

One of the greatest tragedies in medicine and the health field is that bicarbonate is overlooked as the most effective essential medicine it is. Of course, we could say the same about magnesium (mg). However, magnesium has gotten more coverage in alternative medical circles. Most cardiologists still ignore magnesium at the cost of millions of lives lost from cardiac arrest due to severe magnesium deficiencies.

Millions worldwide consume bicarbonate in drinking water or have been treated clinically in hospitals, medical centers, ICUs, or emergency units to prevent and treat clinical acidosis and numerous other conditions. Sodium bicarbonate is administered in ambulances.

Sodium bicarbonate is the time-honored method to ‘speed up’ the return of the body’s bicarbonate levels to normal, which is the same as bringing up blood CO2 levels and increasing oxygen delivery to the cells. Bicarbonate is inorganic, very alkaline, and supports an extensive list of biological functions. Now, what doctor would not like to be able to accomplish these fundamental physiological feats easily?

Virtually all degenerative diseases, including cancer,
heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, kidney, and tooth
decay is associated with excess acidity in the body.

Sodium bicarbonate is one of our most valuable medicines because bicarbonate physiology is fundamental to life and health. It is so helpful and elementary that it’s instrumental in helping sperm swim up and enter the cervical canal. Potassium and magnesium bicarbonates also make excellent medicines.

Like magnesium chloride, administration possibilities for bicarbonate are versatile: intravenous, oral, transdermally, and via catheter; it can be nebulized directly into the lungs and be used in enemas and douches. In addition, one can take intense baths with baking soda and spray it on the skin. Now, there will be a CO2 inhaler and an even more powerful method of pumping pure CO2 gas into a body suit.

Oral bicarbonate supplementation is often recommended for patients with CKD to help maintain serum bicarbonate levels within a normal range and mitigate the effects of metabolic acidosis. This approach can improve overall metabolic status and potentially slow the progression of kidney disease.

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitors are perhaps the most direct approach to acidifying the intracellular tumor environment. Still, other methods exist, such as methylene blue, acetazolamide, niacinamide, thiamine, and baking soda. However, the cancer industry cannot be convinced of anything and continues to make idiotic imbecilities about cancer being a genetic disease and metabolic therapies like baking soda being nonsense.

Cancer cells overproduce lactic acid due to the so-called Warburg Effect. This lactic acid is transported outside the cells, resulting in a highly acidic extracellular tumor-stroma environment. Extracellular acidity is necessary and sufficient to induce candidate splicing events that drive aggressive cancer phenotypes and even initial cancerization. Administering baking soda orally retards tumor growth by effectively acidifying the inside of the tumor (by raising CO2 levels) and alkalizing the outside (by neutralizing lactic acid). Administering metformin has a cancer-promoting effect due to the ability of that drug to increase lactic acid synthesis inside ANY cell.

What are the symptoms of lactic acidosis?

The symptoms of lactic acidosis are typical of many health conditions. You should contact a doctor immediately if you experience any of these symptoms. A doctor can help find the root cause.

Several symptoms associated with lactic acidosis represent a medical emergency:

• fruity-smelling breath (a possible symptom of a serious complication of diabetes called ketoacidosis, which is caused by a buildup of chemicals known as ketones)
• confusion
• jaundice (yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes, caused by liver impairment, which can lead to lactic acidosis)
• trouble breathing or shallow, rapid breathing

Conditions like cardiac arrest and congestive heart failure may reduce the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body. This can increase lactate levels.

Cancer

Cancer cells create lactate. This lactate buildup may accelerate as a person loses weight and the disease progresses.

Alcohol Use Disorder

Consuming too much alcohol over an extended period of time can lead to lactic acidosis and “alcoholic ketoacidosis.” If left untreated, this type of ketoacidosis is a potentially fatal condition, but it can be combated with intravenous (IV) hydration and glucose.

Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Generalized tonic-clonic seizures, formerly known as grand mal seizures, consist of tonic (stiffening) and clonic (twitching or jerking) phases of muscle activity caused by abnormal electrical activity throughout the brain.

A 2016 study showed that people with observed tonic-clonic seizures and known epilepsy had signs of elevated lactate levels 2 hours after a seizure.

Depending on the root cause, treatments for lactic acidosis often result in full recovery, mainly if treatment is provided quickly. Sometimes, kidney failure or respiratory failure may result. When left untreated, lactic acidosis can be fatal.