Diabetic Ketoacidosis: Causes, Risks, and What You Need to Know
When your body doesn’t have enough insulin, it can’t use sugar for energy, so it starts burning fat instead. That process creates acids called ketones, which build up in your blood and can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when high blood sugar, low insulin, and excess ketones combine. Also known as DKA, it’s most common in people with type 1 diabetes but can happen in type 2 if illness, infection, or missed insulin doses push the body past its limit.
This isn’t just about high blood sugar—it’s a cascade. Without insulin, glucose stays in your bloodstream instead of feeding your cells. Your kidneys try to flush out the excess sugar, which pulls water and electrolytes with it, leaving you dehydrated. At the same time, ketones make your blood too acidic. That’s why symptoms like extreme thirst, frequent urination, nausea, and fruity-smelling breath aren’t just annoying—they’re red flags. People who don’t know they have diabetes sometimes show up in the ER with DKA as their first sign. Even those who manage their diabetes well can slip into it during illness, stress, or if their insulin pump fails.
Insulin deficiency, the core driver behind diabetic ketoacidosis is what makes this different from simple high blood sugar. You can have high glucose without ketones, but once ketones climb, your body is in crisis mode. Hyperglycemia, abnormally high blood sugar levels is the starting point, but DKA turns it into a medical emergency. And while hypoglycemia, low blood sugar is often the fear for people on insulin, DKA is the quiet danger that sneaks up when insulin is missing—not when there’s too much.
What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t just theory—it’s real-world insight. You’ll see how medications like sulfonylureas can accidentally tip someone into danger if not monitored. You’ll learn how drug interactions, genetic factors, and even generic medication bioequivalence can play a role in how well your body handles insulin. Some posts dive into how other conditions like infections or steroid use can trigger DKA. Others show how simple mistakes—like skipping a dose or misreading a prescription—can snowball. This isn’t a list of random articles. It’s a collection built for people who need to understand not just what DKA is, but how it connects to the bigger picture of diabetes care, medication safety, and preventing avoidable crises.
