What does alkalosis mean?
Alkalosis is a medical condition in which the body's fluids become too alkaline, meaning the blood's pH rises above its normal range of roughly 7.35 to 7.45. It arises when acid is lost from the body — through prolonged vomiting, for instance — when too much base is gained, as with certain diuretics or antacid overuse, or when carbon dioxide levels drop because of hyperventilation. Clinicians distinguish two main types: metabolic alkalosis, which involves chemical changes in the blood itself, and respiratory alkalosis, which stems from breathing out too much carbon dioxide. Symptoms can include muscle twitching, cramps, tingling in the hands and lips, nausea, and confusion; severe cases may be dangerous and require prompt treatment. The word appears almost entirely in medical and scientific writing, where it is nearly always qualified as 'metabolic' or 'respiratory'. Its direct opposite is acidosis, the condition of excess acidity. Understanding alkalosis matters because even everyday events — a panic attack, a bout of vomiting — can shift the body's delicate acid–base balance.
nounA condition in which the body's fluids contain an excess of alkali, or a deficiency of acid, causing the blood pH to rise above the normal range.
- Excess alkali in the blood and other body fluids, raising pH above the normal range; classified as metabolic (from loss of acid or gain of base) or respiratory (from reduced carbon dioxide due to hyperventilation).
"Prolonged vomiting can lead to alkalosis by depleting the body of stomach acid."
"The patient's hyperventilation during the panic attack induced respiratory alkalosis, causing tingling in her fingers and lips."
"Laboratory results confirmed metabolic alkalosis, likely secondary to overuse of antacids."
The plural follows the standard '-is' → '-es' pattern for Greek-derived medical nouns; singular use is far more common.
"The textbook chapter reviewed both the major alkaloses and their compensatory mechanisms."
Vomit your way to danger: repeated vomiting can push your blood so far toward the basic side of the scale that it becomes life-threatening — that's alkalosis at work.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of alkalosis
Alkalosis was formed in the nineteenth century within medical English from 'alkali', a word borrowed via Latin and French from the Arabic 'al-qilya', referring to ashes of saltwort plants used to produce caustic bases, combined with the Greek-derived suffix '-osis', which denotes abnormal conditions or processes. The Arabic term passed into European science through medieval alchemy, giving rise to related words such as alkaline and alkaloid. The suffix '-osis' likewise anchors a large family of clinical terms, including neurosis and thrombosis.
Related word forms
How alkalosis is actually used
Alkalosis is a formal medical term used almost exclusively in clinical and scientific contexts; laypeople rarely encounter it outside discussions of health. It is always paired descriptively as either 'metabolic' or 'respiratory' alkalosis in practice, since treatment differs according to cause.
Easily confused with alkalosis
Acidosis is the opposite condition — excessive acidity and a blood pH that falls below normal — whereas alkalosis is an excess of alkali with pH above normal.
Alkaline is an adjective describing substances with basic properties, while alkalosis is the medical condition resulting from excess alkali in the body.