STUDIES IN THE METABOLISM OF SODIUM r-LACTATE. I. RESPONSE OF NORMAL HUMAN SUBJECTS TO THE INTRAVENOUS INJECTION OF SODIUM r-LACTATE.

In recently published studies, Hartmann and Darrow (1., 2, 3) emphasized the fact that if sodium bicarbonate were properly administered along with other indicated therapeutic measures, severe acidosis could be much more effectively treated. There were recognized, however, a number of objections to the administration of sodium bicarbonate. The most serious was that, if given intravenously in amounts large enough to insure effectiveness, it tended to produce too rapid a change in the reaction of the body fluids, and often resulted in an almost immediate shift from uncompensated acidosis to uncompensated alkalosis, even though the sodium bicarbonate content of the body fluids was not made BHCOs. abnormally high; i.e., the ratio increased because the numerator H2C03 &'