Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart
I thought hyperventilation resets the CO2 levels in the blood to equilibrium level as it perceives that there isn't enough oxygen in the bloodstream.
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Not necessarily because of the Bohr Effect, which states that as CO2 and/or proton concentration in the blood increases, hemoglobin affinity for Oxygen decreases. Increased breathing is the only effective expulsion compensatory response for an increase in blood CO2 levels because CO2 is more easily released from the blood than O2. By hyperventilating you release more CO2 than the usual rate, which if there was no imbalance in the first place causes an imbalance between acids and bicarbonates. pH increases and you have a net increase in bicarbonates which makes blood more alkaline. Your body's compensatory response would be to piss out more bicarbonates in your urine to bring back pH to the 7.35-7.45 range.
In the ideal sense you should only hyperventilate if you actually have dropped blood pH levels as a compensation. Dropped CO2 levels CAN be normal if your acid-base balance is normal and/or blood pH is in the normal range.
In either case it depends on the entirety of your Arterial Blood Gases (ABG) panel to see if the CO2 drop is normal or not.