Can Diabetic Ketone-acidosis Lead to Death? - Diabetes 9

Illustration of Ketoacidosis, credit to UCSF

Ketone-acidosis is a condition when body accumulates Ketone and blood sugar at very dangerous level. This state leads to blood to be acid, and harmful.

Why Ketone-acidosis is happen? It is because body lack or not enough insulin to be able to break down the sugar for energy.

Then, body uses fat as source of energy. Fat burning produces Ketone (acid) as called Ketone-acidosis.

Type 1 diabetic patients are vulnerable to Ketone-acidosis. If untreated in certain period (long term) could be life threatening, and even causes coma or death. 

It is because excessive acid in blood (due to extremely high Ketone) could cause body system ceases to function well.

The signs of diabetic Ketone-acidosis are:

- Hyperglycemia (higher blood sugar)

- Urination frequently which contains high Ketone level

- Fatigue (feel weakness)

- Unusual thirst

- Dry of skin and mouth

- Vomiting

Ketone-acidosis occurs in Type 1 diabetes patients

(credit to DiabeteStrong)

I make summary how to prevent diabetic Ketone-acidosis for type 1 diabetes patients, written by Mayo Clinic ( 2019):

- Manage diabetes through routine medication, quality diet and do proper exercise.

- Monitor blood sugar daily and maintain to normal range.

- Monitor Ketone level in urine by Ketone test kit.

- Sure, type 1 diabetes patients need to search emergency help as soon as possible if suspect to Ketoacidosis.

Just to let you know that about 30 million people face on diabetic Ketone-acidosis in the USA. 

Reference:

Mayo Clinic. 2019. Diabetic Keoacidosis. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic Org. 

# You may like to read:

1) - What is Type 2 Diabetes? - Diabetes 1 | Tanza Erlambang Update

2) - What is the Relationship between Eggs and Diabetes? - Diabetes 2 | Tanza Erlambang Update

3) - Why Pancreas of Type 2 Diabetic Persons Produce Less Insulin? - Diabetes 3 | Tanza Erlambang Update

4) - Could Medicines Affect on Pancreas to Produce Insulin? - Diabetes 4 | Tanza Erlambang Update

5) - Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

6) - How Lipotoxicity Relate to Diabetes? - Diabetes 6 | Tanza Erlambang Update

7) - What is Hypoxia and How Its Relates to Diabetes? - Diabetes 7 | Tanza Erlambang Update

8) - Can Abnormal Blood Sugar Lead to Seizure? - Diabetes 8 | Tanza Erlambang Update

Can Abnormal Blood Sugar Lead to Seizure? - Diabetes 8

Range of blood sugar level (credit to Melissa Conrad Stoppler)

Fluctuation in sugar level may be faced by both non-diabetic and diabetic patients on daily basis due to several factors:

- illness

- insulin level

- metabolic problems

So, what is normal range? General speaking, what we call as normal range of blood sugar level is from 70 mg/dL to 130 mg/dL.

Abnormal is a state where the level below or higher than normal range. The range of pre-diabetes and diabetes are following:

- 140 to 199 mg/dL, prediabetes range

- above 200 mg/dL, diabetes

Too lower or too higher if sugar level is under 54 mg/dL or above 400 mg/dL could be categorized as medical emergency.

Diabetic seizure, just for illustration

(credit to Christopher Notfall)

Seizure is one of medical emergencies due to high or low blood sugar. But, seizure due to higher sugar is very rare.

In this post, we refer seizure to low blood sugar level which less than 30 mg/dL. Lower blood sugar means brain does not have glucose enough to make its function properly.

Unfunction brain due to decreasing of neuron cells in its, thus lead to seizure. Some signs of low sugar level could cause seizures are:

- anxiety

- confusion

- sweating

- mumbling

- drowsiness

Untreated seizure could cause loss consciousness, brain damages and even death. While in seizures, the immediate solution could be:

- drinking fruit juice

- eating high caloric snacks

- taking glucose tablets

- taking one spoon honey

# You may like to read:

 - What is Type 2 Diabetes? - Diabetes 1 | Tanza Erlambang Update

 - What is the Relationship between Eggs and Diabetes? - Diabetes 2 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Why Pancreas of Type 2 Diabetic Persons Produce Less Insulin? - Diabetes 3 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Could Medicines Affect on Pancreas to Produce Insulin? - Diabetes 4 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

What is Hypoxia and How Its Relates to Diabetes? - Diabetes 7

Illustration effect of hypoxia on cells or tissues

(credit to Osmosis, YouTube)

We discussed about two metabolic factors that are glucotoxicity and lipotoxicity at previous articles:

 

- How Lipotoxicity Relate to Diabetes? - Diabetes 6 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

We will talk little bit about another metabolic factor called as “hypoxia” in this post.

As mentioned by WebMd (2019) that hypoxia is condition of low oxygen level in the our tissues due to low oxygen level in the blood.

Hence, blood can’t bring enough oxygen to the tissue's need. It could lead to injure of cells or dysfunctional of several organs in the body.

Depend on length of time, effect of hypoxia on human body (organs) is range from almost no problem to mild problem to death:

- headaches

- difficult to breath (increase breathing rate)

- increase rate of heart

- body not work properly

- brain stops to function

- lifelong brain damage

- death

Illustration of wide effects of hypoxia (credit First Aid).

Then, the question might be asked: what is relationship between hypoxia and diabetes?

Some literature said that hypoxia and excess nutrient to be trigger of obesity, then cause glucose intolerance and diabetes.

It is suggested to prevent hypoxia and excess nutrient in order to manage body weight by doing:

- consume healthy diet

- exercises regularly

- minimize to use pharmacological theraphy or drugs medication

Reference

WebMd. 2019. What is Hypoxia. Retrieved from https: webmd.

How Lipotoxicity Relate to Diabetes? - Diabetes 6

Relation of beta cells, insulin and lipotoxicity (credit to Yoon et al, 2018).

Previous post was talking about two metabolic factors that are hyperglycemia (higher blood sugar level) and glucose toxicity (glucotoxicity).

In the article with title: Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update, we discussed the hyperglycemia. Then we discuss another metabolic factor, lipotoxicity in this post.

Lipotoxicity is medical term relate to increasing of fat (free fatty acids) in the blood. In present of higher glucose level, Lipotoxicity then have the following effect on:

- resistance to insulin for several organs such as muscle and liver.

- increasing glucose generating

- reduction of insulin production in pancreas.

- promoting unhealthy heart and kidney

Unluckily, these negative effects are increasing for type 2 diabetic patients through less beta cell mass and reduce insulin production in pancreas. 

Illustration of beta cell damage (credit to ScienceDirect)

At cellular level, Lipotoxicity may induce:

- stress on endoplasmic reticulum

- oxidative stress

- impair beta cell production, hence impact on beta cell mass

- inflammation

- authopagy

Luckily, negative effect of Lipotoxicity on beta cell could be protected by several factors such as lactogens, incretins and estrogens.

These hormones not only able to reduce toxicity effect of lipid, but also to stimulate beta cell function and proliferation.

Finally, in this case, we may conclude that not only sugar, lipid may also contribute to impair beta cell to produce insulin.

You may like to read:

- What is Type 2 Diabetes? - Diabetes 1 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- What is the Relationship between Eggs and Diabetes? - Diabetes 2 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Why Pancreas of Type 2 Diabetic Persons Produce Less Insulin? - Diabetes 3 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Could Medicines Affect on Pancreas to Produce Insulin? - Diabetes 4 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

Reference

Yoon, S, Oh et al. 2019. Fatty Acid-Induced Lipotoxicity in Pancreatic Beta-Cells During Development of Type 2 Diabetes. Endocrinol., 16 July 2018.

Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5

Level of glucose in the blood (credit to HiClip)

One group of three important factors lead to damage of beta cells is 

the metabolic factor (please see my previous post: Could Medicines 

Affect on Pancreas to Produce Insulin? - Diabetes 4 | Tanza Erlambang Update).

The metabolic factor includes:

- hyperglycemia (higher blood sugar level)

- glucose toxicity (glucotoxicity)

- lipotoxicity

- hypoxia

Hyperglycemia leads to glucotoxicity in which high sugar level in 

blood could cause death on beta cell.

Many causes to Hyperglycemia, usually (in most cases) is due to:

- food consumption (not follow diabetic plan)

- drinking (too much)

- physical activities (being less active)

- sickness

- skip taking drugs for diabetic

- not using fresh insulin

- using certain medications or negative effect of drugs 

which  stimulate higher blood sugar level.

Hyperglycemia caused of glucotoxicity (credit to PainAssist).

Glucotoxicity is disorder due to untreated higher blood sugar 

condition in longer period. Disorder may damage beta cell 

functionally and structurally.

Damaging beta cells and insulin production relate tissues will have effect on:

- lowering insulin production

- increasing insulin resistance.

You might knew that hyperglycemia have negative effects on several 

organs or tissues such as blood vessels. The disturbance of blood 

supply to important organs may cause to:

- stroke and heart diseases risk be higher

- kidney problems

- vision harmful

- nerve problem.

Hence, controlling the blood sugar level is great deal for diabetic patients. 

# The other metabolic factors are lipotoxicity and hypoxia. We will 

discuss these topics by next post.