Respiratory acidosis is a condition that occurs when the lungs cannot remove all of the carbon dioxide the body produces. This disrupts the body's acid-base balance. Body fluids become too acidic.

Causes of respiratory acidosis include:

• Diseases of the airways (such as asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease), which send air into and out of the lungs
• Diseases of the chest (such as scoliosis) that make the lungs less efficient at filling and emptying
• Disease of the nerves and muscles that "signal" the lungs to inflate or deflate
• Drugs (including powerful pain medicines such as narcotics, and "downers" such as benzodiazepines), especially when combined with alcohol
• Severe Obesity

Chronic respiratory acidosis occurs over a long period of time. This leads to a stable situation, because the kidneys increase chemicals that help restore the body's acid-base balance.

Acute respiratory acidosis is a severe condition in which carbon dioxide builds up very quickly and before the kidneys can return the body to a state of balance.

Symptoms may include:

• Confusion
• Easy fatigue
• Lethargy
• Shortness of breath
• Sleepiness

A chest x-ray or CT scan is a helpful way of checking the lung's appearance without having to biopsy it.

Pulmonary function tests are a series of breathing tests that evaluate lung capacity.

An arterial blood gas test involves having blood drain and directly measuring the amounts of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and acids.