Way back when I became interested in dialysis, the buffer of choice was sodium bicarbonate. Now this compound is not exactly easily dissolved in water. But, since we were making batches of dialysate that were used for a single treatment, it didn’t matter that a concentrate couldn’t be produced.
That practice continued until Dr. Willem Kolf approached one of the biggest vendors of dialysate at the time, Ed Simon. Kolff wanted to make a 1 gallon concentrate that would be premixed, speeding up the prep time for the treatment. Oh, and instead of using sodium bicarbonate as the buffer, a switch would be made to acetate.
(Since dialysis was not highly efficient at the time, there wasn’t much concern that the patient would overload on acetate and deplete his(her) bicarb stores. But, it did mean that the patient did have a little acetate in his (her) blood and lowered bicarb levels; during the intradialytic phase the acetate was converted by the body to bicarb, amplifying the sawtooth effect that already pertained in dialysis.)
By the way, Ed Simon (of Edlaw Pharmaceuticals) declined the concept, because he couldn’t believe hospitals would pay to ship water clear across the country. Boy, was he wrong. And, that’s what led to Travenol (now Baxter) becoming the powerhouse in the dialysis field (at the time)- and the diminished role Edlaw would ever play in the market.
Bicarbolyte (notice the name) brought the sodium bicarb buffer back into dialysate. And, CoLyte, the colon electrolyte lavage solution, also relies on sodium bicarb as a major component. Because this is the critical buffer in our body. (I’m going to get a little technical here- so you can skip the next paragraph if you like.)
One of the key equations clinicians employ to discern the state of a patient is the Henderson-Hasselbalch, which relates the equilibrium pH in acid base reactions that prevail in the body. It’s used to discern the partial pressure of carbon dioxide and the bicarb concentration in the body (as a function of blood pH).
Alkali solutions (those who pH is greater than 7) asborb oxygen, while acidic solutions release it. A mild alkali solution (like the pH 7.4 that exists in our body for blood) holds some 100 times as much oxygen as would a mildly acidic one. Which is critical for our well-being- and why the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation is such an important clinical issue. (I will be coming back to this point soon.)
Sodium bicarb is also important for other health issues. (One of them is the new product that I’ve been working on for a while now. One I hope to bring to market soon.) Where there is either insufficient mineral consumption in the diet, or a metabolic issue, the body borrows minerals (like calcium) from the kidney, from saliva, from spinal fluids- to ensure that the blood pH is stabilized at or near 7.4. This means the organs and fluids tend to become acidic. It also means (see the previous paragraph) that they dump copious quantities of oxygen and become anoxic- or maybe even anaerobic. This condition let the body promote cancer, heart disease, arthritis, lupus- a slew of metabolic diseases.
Which is why it’s probably time to start adding some sodium bicarb to your diet. About 5 grams a day. And, now you can’t just take the powder. You should dissolve the sodium bicarb in water. (With a water solubility of approximately 1 molar, that means you need to dissolve the 5 grams in about 50 ml- 2 ounces- of water.)
Bottoms up!
(I wonder if adding sodium bicarb at higher levels in the body will promote that oxygen augmented cancer therapy, too? Or, maybe that PTSD treatment therapy?)
