CHEMICAL CHANGES IN THE BODY OCCURRING AS THE RESULT OF VOMITING

Although considerable attention has been given to the occurrence and significance of acidosis, it is only recently that changes of body neutrality to the alkaline side have received much notice.¹

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE  Wilson and his co-workers² were among the first to consider alkalosis as a possible cause of tetany. They found, following parathyroidectomy, that there was a slight increase in the p_H or alkalinity of the blood, a change in the hemoglobin dissociation curve and a rise in alveolar carbon dioxide tension. Accompanying these changes there was found also an increase in urinary p_H (alkalinity) with diminished ammonia and acid excretion. It was further assumed that with the onset of tetany, the acid products of muscular contraction were sufficient to change this primary increased alkalinity to a normal or more acid reaction.In 1918, McCann³ reported chemical analyses of the blood following parathyroidectomy,