Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Diabetic Ketoacidosis

    Before insulin was discovered, diabetic ketoacidosis posed as a life-threatening situation to people with type 1 diabetes who could not produce insulin at all or produce too little.  Even now with insulin, if a person with type 1 diabetes misses  several doses of insulin, or they simply develop another illness, diabetic ketoacidosis can also occur.

    What is actually diabetic ketoacidosis?  Diabetic ketoacidosis is a condition in which toxic chemicals called ketones build up in the bloodstream.  These toxic chemicals, ketones, come from the metabolism of fat. 

    In a person with diabetes who produce too little insulin or none at all, glucose cannot get into the their body cells.  Though this diabetic person continue to eat to feed the insatiable appetite, his body cannot utilize the glucose from the bloodstream without the help of insulin.  The diabetic's body cells are starving even though there are plenty of glucose molecules circulating in the blood.  In response to the needs to get energy, the body turns to fat metabolism.

    In fat metabolism, fats are broken down to produce energy for cellular activities consumption.  This is usually not the body's first choice to get energy.  However, when the body is in dire needs for energy but cannot get it from glucose, which is the body's basic fuel, it has to get from fats.  The downside of fat metabolism is the release of ketones, which is a by-product of fat metabolism, into the bloodstream.  Ketones are toxic chemicals.  Ketones build-up in the bloodstream creates an acidotic condition.  This is a condition where there is chemical imbalance in the blood, marked by an excess of acid.  Diabetic ketoacidosis is the early stage of this problem.  The later stage of acidotic condition is known as diabetic acidosis.

    Symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis  may include:

    It is a medical emergency when a diabetic develops such symptoms because they can lead to severe dehydration and diabetic coma.  In a diabetic coma, the unconscious patient breathes deep, labored breath and has acetone smell to the breath.  If nothing is done to rectify the problem, the diabetic patient might die.

    Treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis involves intravenous infusion of fluids to correct dehydration and restore the chemical balance of the blood.  Insulin injection is also carried out to enable body cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream.

 

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