Carbon Dioxide Blood Level

Carbon dioxide is a cellular respiratory waste product and is used in the body to create bicarbonate but is largely expelled from the body through the lungs in the normal course of respiration. Carbon dioxide levels in the blood are usually around 45mmHg in the arteries and 51 mmHg in the veins. This is of significance because elevated levels mean that the carbon dioxide is not being released from the lungs. This is usually the case in diseases like acute respiratory distress syndrome, tuberculosis, SARS and the like. The condition will have to be corrected by mechanical ventilation otherwise it would result in death.

Increased carbon dioxide levels in the blood is a condition called hypercapnia and hypocapnia is the opposite of this condition. Fundamentally, the more significant problem that doctors are worried about is ischemia and hypoxia. These are conditions that indicate that oxygen is not reaching the cells. This will cause cell death. This is important to understand and therefore hypercapnia in itself is not as dangerous a situation as it sounds if the cells are able to get enough oxygen to thrive. Reduced carbon dioxide levels in the body are usually considered to be dangerous from the perspective of the loss of the body’s ability to control acidosis. Our human bodies are slightly acidic in nature. This is a level that is strictly maintained as swaying in either directions of pH will cause cell death. The fine balance is maintained by bicarbonate. This is a modified base form of carbon dioxide and is created within the kidneys. When this function does not occur, acidosis is the result. Some forms of acidosis include ketoacidosis that results when a diabetic patient is suffering from runaway blood sugar levels. This is a medical emergency that can cause death if not arrested.

Some people who are prone to excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the blood are those who have deficient lung function or are in an environment that is already saturated with carbon dioxide. This is usually the case in industrial settings or in diving. Diving is especially dubious a practice because the air available is limited and filtration of carbon dioxide happens through a scrubber like lime. If the scrubber is not efficient enough at removing the carbon dioxide, hypocapnia is the result. Confusion, increased heart rates, and arrhythmia are some of the symptoms of hypocapnia. It is technically, a medical emergency.