With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, the incidence of diabetes, a “rich man’s disease”, is also increasing year by year. However, diabetes itself is not terrible, as long as patients can correctly control the five carriages of “reasonable diet, regular exercise, drug treatment, monitoring indicators, health education”, they can survive with illness for a long time and coexist peacefully with diabetes. However, due to various reasons, some patients fail to achieve effective management, which induces a serious acute complication-diabetic ketoacidosis. Today, we will learn more about this disease.
1. What is diabetic ketoacidosis? Diabetic ketoacidosis is an abnormal metabolism of sugar, fat and protein caused by severe inadequate insulin secretion and inappropriate elevation of glucose-raising hormones. Simply put, when insulin in diabetic patients fails to function properly, body cells can not effectively use glucose in the blood for energy, they will turn to fat decomposition. In the process of fat decomposition, ketone bodies will be produced. When ketone bodies accumulate in large quantities in the body, they will acidify the blood, thus causing diabetic ketoacidosis. It is a severe metabolic disorder syndrome characterized by hyperglycemia, hyperketonemia and metabolic acidosis.
2. Causes of diabetic ketoacidosis 1. Infection factors: This is one of the most common causes. The immunity of diabetic patients is relatively low, and they are vulnerable to various infections, such as respiratory tract infection, urinary tract infection, skin infection and so on. Infection can lead to stress reactions in the body, increase the secretion of glucose-raising hormones, and then aggravate insulin resistance and induce ketoacidosis. 2. Interruption or inappropriate reduction of insulin therapy: For patients with type 1 diabetes who rely on insulin therapy, insulin is the key to their life. Once insulin is stopped or reduced improperly, blood sugar will rise rapidly, which will soon lead to ketoacidosis. 3. Improper diet: Excessive consumption of high-sugar, high-fat foods, or excessive drinking may lead to a sharp rise in blood sugar, increase the body’s metabolic burden, and thus induce ketoacidosis. 4. Various stress conditions, such as acute pancreatitis, cerebrovascular accident, acute myocardial infarction, trauma, surgery and other major diseases or trauma, can make the body in a state of stress, leading to imbalance of hormone levels, and also easily lead to diabetic ketoacidosis.
3. Clinical signs The symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis vary in different stages. In the early stage, patients may suffer from dry mouth, polydipsia, polyuria, fatigue and other symptoms of diabetes. With the development of the disease, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal pain and other digestive system symptoms will gradually appear, breathing will become deep and fast, with the smell of rotten apples in the breath. In the later stage, the patient will suffer from severe water loss, dry skin, sunken orbit, decreased urine volume, decreased blood pressure, accelerated heart rate and cold limbs. If the condition deteriorates further, the patient will have different degrees of disturbance of consciousness, or even coma.
4. Diagnosis and treatment The diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis mainly depends on laboratory tests such as blood sugar, blood ketone body and urine ketone body. Once diagnosed, they should be treated immediately. The key to treatment lies in correcting water, electrolyte and acid-base balance disorders, supplementing insulin, and actively looking for and eliminating triggers. Specific treatment measures include: 1. Fluid replacement: because of a large amount of water loss, patients need to quickly supplement saline and other fluids to restore blood volume and correct water loss. 2. Insulin supplementation: Intravenous insulin infusion can reduce blood sugar and inhibit the production of ketone bodies. 3. Correct electrolyte disorders: In particular, attention should be paid to potassium supplementation, because in the course of treatment, patients may have hypokalemia. 4. Symptomatic and supportive treatment: closely monitor the vital signs of patients, prevent and treat complications such as cerebral edema, heart failure and renal failure.
5. Preventive measure is very important to prevent the occurrence of diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic patients should strictly abide by medical supervision, use drugs regularly and monitor blood sugar regularly. Maintain good eating habits, avoid overeating, and control the proportion of carbohydrate, fat and protein intake. Pay attention to rest, moderate exercise, enhance the body’s immunity, but avoid overwork and strenuous exercise. At the same time, we should actively prevent infection, pay attention to personal hygiene and avoid trauma.
In a word, diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious complication of diabetes, but as long as patients can correctly understand it, actively prevent it and treat it in time, they will be able to overcome it. We emphasize the importance of reasonable diet, regular exercise, drug treatment, monitoring indicators and health education. We hope that every diabetic patient can integrate these concepts into their daily life so as to achieve early detection, early prevention and early treatment. At the same time, we also call on all sectors of society to pay more attention to and support diabetes and its complications, and jointly protect the health of diabetic patients. Let’s join hands to welcome a healthier and better future together!
