A quantitative physicochemical approach to acid-base physiology

An approach to acid-base physiology based on quantitative relationships between systems is presented. Key elements in the approach advocated by Stewart are, first, that changes in H⁺ or protons and bicarbonate are not considered "primary," or initiating disturbances, but rather as changes that are "dependent" on the interactions between several systems. Secondly, the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation is not used as a control equation; [H⁺] is not …