Acid-base disorders definition

Narins RG. Acid-base disorders Definitions and introductory concepts. In Narins RG, ed. Maxwell Kleeman s Clinical Disorders of Fluid and Electrolyte Metabolism, 5th ed. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1994 765—768. 

Because C02 is a volatile acid, it can rapidly be changed by the respiratory system. If a respiratory acid-base disturbance is present for minutes to hours it is considered an acute disorder while if it is present for days or longer it is considered a chronic disorder. By definition, the metabolic machinery that regulates HC03 results in slow changes in serum bicarbonate and all metabolic disorders are chronic. This means that there are six simple acid-base disorders as outlined in Table 25-1.2... 

Since for most reactions the entropy change is negative, the thermodynamic efficiency is <100%, as can be seen in Table 1.2. However, in some cases the reaction results in an increase in disorder (positive AS) (e.g. formic acid) and the system takes heat in from the environment, so expressing an efficiency of greater than 100%, based on the thermal efficiency definition above. 

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