Severe insulin deficiency in type 1 diabetes predisposes the patient to diabetic ketoacidosis, a serious acute complication that can lead to death if not treated promptly, so it is important to pay attention to urinary ketone bodies.
What are urinary ketone bodies?
If a patient has a severe insulin deficiency, he or she may have a metabolic disorder, when lipolysis is accelerated and a large amount of fatty acids undergo a chemical reaction to produce ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are mainly excreted from the kidneys, with only some acetone excreted by respiration. When the rate of ketone body production is significantly higher than the rate of its tissue utilization and renal excretion, the blood ketone body increases and ketonemia and ketonuria, i.e. ketosis, occur. When ketone bodies are present, the body has to digest alkali, and excessive ketone bodies digest large reserves of alkali, and the body’s acid content rises significantly, causing an abnormality known as “diabetic ketoacidosis”.
How do you test for urinary ketone bodies?
How do you test for ketones?
Usually, the patient needs to cooperate with the middle segment of the urine, because the front and back segments are easily contaminated. After the urine is retained, it needs to be sent for testing as soon as possible to avoid contamination, which can affect normal results.