Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Pathophysiology
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious complication of diabetes that occurs when your body produces high levels of blood acids called ketones.The condition develops when your body can't produce enough insulin. Insulin normally plays a key role in helping sugar (glucose) - a major source of energy for your muscles and other tissues - enter your cells. Without enough insulin, your body begins to break down fat as fuel. This process produces a build-up of acids in the bloodstream called ketones, eventually leading to diabetic ketoacidosis if untreated.

Treatment
Diabetic ketoacidosis is an emergency and requires urgent medical attention, often in and intensive care setting. The goal of treatment is to correct the elevated blood glucose level by giving additional insulin and to replace fluids and electrolytes lost through excessive urination and vomiting. You will require close monitoring including regular finger prick glucose measurements, vital observations, fluid charts, blood tests and ECG monitoring. You may need a catheter into the bladder to measure urine output accurately. Monitoring is essential as there is a very fine balance between the fluid and electrolyte levels in your body.

Statistics
3,9 million Italian adults have diabetes, i.e., 8,8% of the total population. An additional 2,65 million citizens (6% of the population) suffer from impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes). This situation will deteriorate in the future, with an estimated 4,48 million adult citizens with diabetes in 2030. 27.393 Italian citizens die from diabetes every year.1 This is 3 citizens every hour. Type 2 diabetes, accounting for 90% of all diabetes in Italy, decreases life expectancy by 5-10 years