One complication of alcoholic ketoacidosis is alcohol withdrawal. Your doctor and other medical professionals will watch you for symptoms of withdrawal. These conditions have to be ruled out before a medical professional can diagnose you with alcoholic ketoacidosis. Alcoholic ketoacidosis can develop when you drink excessive amounts of alcohol for a long period of time.
What are the symptoms of alcoholic ketoacidosis?
It should be suspected in any patient who has a history of chronic alcohol dependency, malnutrition or recent episode of binge drinking 1. This case demonstrates the importance of considering AKA in the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with non-specific symptoms, significant metabolic acidosis and a history of alcohol excess. It is essential to differentiate AKA from DKA to ensure that inappropriate insulin administration does not occur. The key tenants alcoholic ketoacidosis pathophysiology to management of AKA include fluid resuscitation and electrolyte correction. If you chronically abuse alcohol, you probably don’t get as much nutrition as your body needs.
How can I prevent alcoholic ketoacidosis?
- Each of these situations increases the amount of acid in the system.
- Treatment for alcohol addiction is also necessary to prevent a relapse of alcoholic ketoacidosis.
- Prolonged used of alcohol can result in cirrhosis, or permanent scarring of the liver.
- It can be helpful to understand the basic guidelines for alcohol consumption so you can determine whether you are drinking above recommended levels and engaging in potentially harmful alcohol use.
Alcoholic ketoacidosis is a condition that can happen when you’ve had a lot of alcohol and haven’t had much to eat or have been vomiting. When this happens, it can cause ketones, which are acids, to build up in your blood. If not treated quickly, alcoholic ketoacidosis may be life-threatening. Alcoholic ketoacidosis is a complication of alcohol use and starvation that causes excess acid in the bloodstream, resulting in vomiting and abdominal pain. Alcoholic ketoacidosis is a problem caused by drinking a lot of alcohol without eating food. Your doctor may also admit you to the intensive care unit (ICU) if you require ongoing care.
How do doctors treat alcoholic ketoacidosis?
Not eating enough or vomiting can lead to periods of starvation. Take our free, 5-minute alcohol abuse self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with alcohol abuse. The evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are intended to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of an alcohol use disorder. The test is free, confidential, and no personal information is needed to receive the result. They provide some energy to your cells, but too much may cause your blood to become too acidic.
- Alcoholic ketoacidosis most commonly happens in people who have alcohol use disorder and chronically drink a lot of alcohol.
- Cells still need energy to survive, so they switch to a back-up mechanism to obtain energy.
- Take our free, 5-minute alcohol abuse self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with alcohol abuse.
How Can Alcoholic Ketoacidosis Be Prevented?
Going on a drinking binge when your body is in a malnourished state may cause abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting. Infection or other illnesses such as pancreatitis can also trigger alcoholic ketoacidosis in people with alcohol use disorder. The presence of a high anion gap, although not specific, is suggestive of AKA in a patient with an appropriate clinical history 9. Additional measurements that may help determine the diagnosis of AKA include beta-hydroxybutyrate levels (high in AKA, low in DKA) and serum alcohol concentration (typically low or undetectable) 8.
- This test will provide information about your sugar levels to help determine whether you have diabetes.
- Breathing tends to become deep and rapid as the body attempts to correct the blood’s acidity.
- The low glucose stores combined with lack of food intake cause low blood glucose levels.
- There are a variety of confidential, free, and no obligation ways to get in contact with us to learn more about treatment.
- Vomiting and/or diarrhoea is common and can lead to hypovolaemia and potassium depletion.
- If a person is already malnourished due to alcoholism, they may develop alcoholic ketoacidosis.