Crumbling Pavlova

During attendance on a DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating) course last year, I found myself introduced to the topic of ketones.  As someone who had been dependent upon insulin for several years, I was a little shocked that I was only then learning how dangerous raised ketone levels could be for diabetes.  Before I go further, Diabetes UK has a really useful overview of diabetic ketoacidosis for anyone who wants to check out symptoms, etc.

Part of the DAFNE course focused upon managing sickness, where I discovered that when blood glucose levels were running high, there was also a need to test for ketones – 50% of our group were unaware of this, nore did we have the means to test our ketone levels.

This weekend, my father, who is also a type 1 diabetic was admitted into hospital with fluid on his lungs and very high blood glucose and ketone levels.  Needless to say, this made me question how many other diabetics are unaware of diabetic ketoacidodis and how to test their levels during sickness? 

I found the following research online, which would seem to support my concern that patient education within this area is somewhat lacking… makes for an upsetting read… Hepprich, M. et al. (2023) Awareness and knowledge of diabetic ketoacidosis in people with type 1 diabetes: a cross-sectional, multicenter survey. BMJ open diabetes research & care. [Online] 11 (6), e003662-. Available at: https://drc.bmj.com/content/11/6/e003662