Is your blood causing you poor health?

Do you have high blood lactate levels?

Then you have impaired tissue oxygenation and there are three reasons why this is happening to you; (1) the cells in your body lack oxygen they become hypoxic causing the blood lactate to increase or, (2) you are not able to clear lactate or, (3) you have both!

Levels of Blood Lactate

When looking at blood lactates there are three categories of blood lactate results:

1. Optimal: Lo – 0.9mmol
2. Hyperlactatemia (without metabolic acidosis): 2>4mmol
3. Lactic Acidosis (with metabolic acidosis: tips acid-base pH): above 4.0mmol – you can get this from poisoning.  Seen in hospitals and termed ‘sepsis‘

Primarily, Lactate is cleared from the blood by the liver.  Secondary clearing of lactate is the kidneys.

Symptoms caused when blood lactates go above 0.9mmol

If over three months of completing Jo’s Toxic Overload Protocol and your levels of lactate have remained consistently higher than 2.0mmol you will need to see your GP to get these tests done:

1. Serum blood bicarbonate level.  A normal reference range for a serum bicarbonate level in the blood is 23 to 27 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L). Levels less than 23 suggest that your blood is more acidic than it should be, making it a source of acute adrenal stress.
2. Kidney problems: If your serum creatinine level is higher than normal, a kidney problem may be contributing to your acidosis. For most people, a serum creatinine less than 1.0 milligram per deciliter means the kidneys are functioning normally.
3. Adrenal exhaustion: If your sodium level is low and your potassium level is high, adrenal exhaustion may be contributing to your acidosis. The range for a normal sodium level in the blood is 135 to 140 mEq/L. The normal potassium range in the blood is 3.5 to 5.0 mEq/L.
4. Blood pH test is a check of the blood’s pH level. A normal pH is approximately 7.36. Anything less than that is acidic. Doctors may order a pH from blood initially, in addition to other serum chemistries, if multiple reasons suggest that the body is acidic. However, blood pH isn’t a test doctors routinely order.

Please note: in my experience since 2005, I have referred many patients to their GP for these tests – the receptiveness of the GP, and the GP’s knowledge on this common health issue identified with patients in pain, are limited.  This can become a barrier to further testing.