ketoacidosis
A diabetic patient is monitored for signs of ketoacidosis in a hospital room.
Noun: A serious metabolic condition characterized by high levels of acid in the blood due to the accumulation of ketone bodies. It is a dangerous complication most commonly associated with diabetes mellitus.
The term "ketoacidosis" is used specifically in medical contexts to describe a pathological state. It is a non-count noun, typically used without an indefinite article ("a" ketoacidosis). It is often modified by the type of diabetes, most frequently as "diabetic ketoacidosis" (DKA).
- The patient was admitted to the emergency room with severe ketoacidosis.
- Diabetic ketoacidosis is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment with insulin and fluids.
- The primary cause of his hospitalization was ketoacidosis resulting from uncontrolled type 1 diabetes.
- Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA): This is the full and most common clinical term. It specifies that the ketoacidosis is a complication of diabetes.
- The condition can be described in stages or severity: , , .
- Ketoacidotic (adjective): Describing a state of or relating to ketoacidosis.
- The patient was in a ketoacidotic state.
- Ketosis (noun): A metabolic state characterized by elevated ketone bodies in the blood, which is not necessarily acidic or pathological (e.g., nutritional ketosis from a low-carbohydrate diet). Ketoacidosis is the severe, pathological form of ketosis.
- Diabetic acidosis
- DKA (acronym for Diabetic Ketoacidosis)
The core meaning is the combination of ketosis (excess ketones) and acidosis (excess acid). While it can theoretically occur in other states like starvation, its overwhelming association in modern clinical use is with diabetes mellitus. Therefore, the word often implicitly means "diabetic ketoacidosis" unless otherwise specified.
A diabetic patient is monitored for signs of ketoacidosis in a hospital room.
- acidosis with an accumulation of ketone bodies; occurs primarily in diabetes mellitus