acidosis

Acidosis is a biological process producing hydrogen ions and increasing their concentration in blood or body fluids. pH is the negative log of hydrogen ion concentration and so it is decreased by a process of acidosis.

== Acidemia == The term acidemia describes the state of low blood pH, when arterial pH falls below 7.35 (except in the fetus – see below) while acidosis is used to describe the processes leading to these states. The use of acidosis for a low pH creates an ambiguity in its meaning. The difference is important where a patient has factors causing both acidosis and alkalosis, wherein the relative severity of both determines whether the result is a high, low, or normal pH.