Diabetes causes your body's pH levels to become more acidic and develop a condition called ketoacidosis, the American Diabetes Association explains. Your body's pH level refers to the acidity or alkalinity of the fluids in your body. Diabetes impairs your body's ability to properly utilize the glucose in your blood. Instead, your body is forced to convert fat into energy through a process that develops into ketoacidosis. Diagnosing ketoacidosis involves testing blood for the presence of ketones, the University of Maryland Medical Center explains.
Diabetes
There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is congenital, and its symptoms appear as early as childhood, MayoClinic.com explains. Type 1 diabetes is characterized by your body's inability to produce insulin, the hormone needed for cells to metabolize glucose into energy. Type 2 diabetes is essentially defined by acquired insulin resistance that usually manifests in adulthood. Both types of diabetes cause increased thirst, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, hypertension and ketoacidosis. Left untreated, both types of diabetes lead to complications that damage your cardiovascular system, kidneys and nerves due to the accumulated glucose in your blood. Complications due to diabetes such as ketoacidosis are fatal if not treated.
Ketones
Ketones are the acidic byproducts of fat breakdown that accumulate when your body uses fat instead of glucose as a source of fuel, MedlinePlus, a service of the National Institutes of Health, explains. As your ketone levels increase, your body becomes more acidic. Ketones are present in both types of diabetes but are generally more typical of type 1 diabetes. Ketones are also sometimes present in urine. Acetone and acetoacetic acid are examples of ketones.
Ketoacidosis
Ketoacidosis does not happen overnight. You usually develop the disease slowly, the American Diabetes Association says. The signs of ketoacidosis include elevated ketones in urine, frequently feeling exhausted, persistent nausea and abdominal pain and breathing difficulties and persistent vomiting that sometimes last over 2 hours. Ketoacidosis is potentially fatal unless treated.
Testing for Ketoacidosis
Testing for acidosis involves getting a sample of urine or blood, MedlinePlus explains. If you do not have ketoacidosis then you will not have ketones present in the tested sample of urine or blood. When ketones are detected they are typically designated as small, moderate and large. A small number of ketones in your urine would be less than 20 mg/dL, whereas a large number would over 80 mg/dL.
