By Lisa Esposito
糖尿病酮症酸中毒(DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS,缩写DKA)是糖尿病患者的一种危险并发症。当身体长期缺乏胰岛素,导致血糖飙升时,就会发生DKA。DKA可以迅速成为医疗紧急情况。幸运的是,DKA对及时治疗有反应。
研究发现DKA是可预防的。控制血糖是一项挑战,特别是对于1型糖尿病患者。无论是通过每天多次注射胰岛素还是使用胰岛素泵的治疗方法,坚持胰岛素治疗方案才是至关重要的。
然而,不断上涨的胰岛素成本和不断变化的保险覆盖范围使其变得更加困难。根据卫生保健成本研究所(Health Care Cost Institute) 2019年1月的一份报告,从2012年到2016年,普通胰岛素产品的价格几乎翻了一番。
胰岛素的平均销售点价格从每支13美分上涨到25美分。HCCI的数据显示:“这意味着,2012年,平均每天使用胰岛素的人每天的胰岛素摄入量将增加7.80美元,2016年将增加到15美元。”
本周,国会就昂贵的处方药召开了听证会,包括议员们关于胰岛素价格飙升迫使患者通过定量配给胰岛素而危及健康的言论。
糖尿病酮症酸中毒的病因是什么?
当身体中胰岛素的含量过低时,血糖就会远远高于正常水平,因为身体失去了利用糖作为能量的能力。在酮症酸中毒中,身体变成酸性,因为它用脂肪作为能量,导致称为酮的酸形成。这些酮积累在血液中,并溢出到尿液中。
正常情况下,胰岛素是在胰腺中产生的。在1型糖尿病中,人们需要外部胰岛素的来源才能生存。
埃默里大学医学院(Emory University School of medicine)内分泌、代谢和血脂研究所医学教授、亚特兰大格雷迪纪念医院(Grady Memorial Hospital)糖尿病和内分泌科主任吉列尔莫·乌姆皮埃雷斯(Guillermo Umpierrez)说,美国大约有300万人患有1型糖尿病。
“糖尿病酮症酸中毒是由于严重或完全缺乏胰岛素造成,”Umpierrez说,“因此,这在1型糖尿病患者中更为常见。在美国,我们认为大约三分之一的糖尿病酮症酸中毒患者患有2型糖尿病,而剩下的三分之二的患者都是1型糖尿病。”
2型糖尿病患者在感染、压力过大或正在服用某些药物时可能会发生酮症酸中毒。Umpierrez说,长期控制不良的糖尿病可能是2型糖尿病患者发展DKA最重要的风险之一。
在最坏的情况下,DKA可能是致命的。然而,死亡率与诱因密切相关。Umpierrez说,对于新诊断为糖尿病的患者来说,或者已经停止服用胰岛素并出现酮症酸中毒的患者,死亡率低于1%。然而,如果DKA发生在心脏病发作或其他严重疾病的背景下,风险就会上升。
DKA的起始
对于不知道自己患有糖尿病的人来说,第一次DKA发作才会得到糖尿病的诊断。但对于那些已知患有糖尿病的人来说,DKA的发生意味着血糖正在失去控制。
每天的血糖水平都不一样。醒来后和进食前的空腹血糖往往较低。空腹血糖低于每分升100毫克被认为是正常的。随机的血糖水平至少为200mg /dL表明患有糖尿病。
对于DKA,葡萄糖通常超过250到350。“糖尿病酮症酸中毒患者的平均血糖约为600毫克/分升,是非糖尿病患者正常血糖水平的六到八倍,”Umpierrez说。
DKA早期症状
要扭转升高的血糖水平,患者必须认识到早期DKA症状:
DKA急症
卫生保健提供者需要了解这些进展中的DKA症状和脱水迹象:
DKA与儿童
科罗拉多大学医学院(University of Colorado School of medicine)儿科急诊医学副教授、科罗拉多儿童医院(children’s Hospital Colorado)医生雷沃斯(Arleta Rewers)说,DKA对儿童非常危险。她说:“大约50%患有DKA的孩子被送进ICU。”“它们需要非常广泛的液体和胰岛素治疗。”
美国国家糖尿病、消化和肾脏疾病研究所(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)最新出版的《美国糖尿病》(Diabetes in America)一书的撰稿人之一Rewers说,有两种基本情况会把孩子送到医院。首先是患有糖尿病但尚未确诊的儿童,他们突然开始出现症状。
在已知患有糖尿病的儿童中,错过胰岛素治疗或酝酿中的感染可能使他们更容易发展成DKA。Rewers说:“同样,使用胰岛素泵的孩子也可能患DKA。”“有时会出现故障,而且没有及早发现。”
复杂的情况不仅限于危机。“DKA也有长期的影响,”Rewers说。“它会在很长一段时间内改变大脑的发育和功能。患有DKA的孩子会表现出持续数年的记忆和学习问题。”
Rewers说,一旦糖尿病被诊断出来,DKA就会清除胰腺中剩余的产生胰岛素的β细胞,从而减少任何“蜜月期”,增加孩子们“终生与血糖控制作斗争”的几率。“它在孩子身上留下了永久的印记。”
Rewers指出,多达1%的DKA患儿可能会出现脑水肿或脑肿胀。脑肿胀可能是致命的,也可能给孩子带来灾难性的健康后果。
DKA预防方法
与内分泌学家、糖尿病教育者、营养师和初级保健提供者密切合作,将帮助您控制糖尿病和预防DKA。波士顿乔斯林糖尿病中心(Joslin diabetes Center)的注册营养师、认证糖尿病教育家卡拉•施拉格(Cara Schrager)说,监测血糖是预防DKA最积极的方法。
佩戴在身体上的连续血糖监测系统(CGM),让使用者更容易知道他们的血糖此刻的状况。CGM技术每隔几分钟就会检测佩戴者的血糖。大多数显示器也有趋势箭头。
然而,许多糖尿病患者仍然依赖传统的手指棒来检测他们的血糖。为了长期的血糖控制措施,卫生保健提供者定期进行一项名为血红蛋白A1C的血液测试。糖化血红蛋白显示了你过去三个月左右的平均血糖水平。
DKA饮食
糖尿病患者的饮食对他们的血糖水平和胰岛素需求有很大的影响。在不调整胰岛素的情况下干掉一大盒橙汁,就有可能会让糖尿病患者患上DKA。
Schrager说:“有些人可能没有意识到喝大量的苏打水、果汁或任何含糖饮料会使血糖升高那么多。”“所以,如果他们因为高血糖而非常口渴,并且喝这种饮料来解渴——这可能会导致更高的血糖。”
如果你有糖尿病,好好看看你的饮食可以减少DKA的风险。Schrager说:“因为碳水化合物会导致高血糖,你可以看到饮食中碳水化合物的种类和数量,以及是否需要修改,或者是否需要在一天中增加胰岛素。”
碳水化合物控制饮食,包括复合碳水化合物,有助于避免血糖飙升。复合碳水化合物存在于植物性食物中,如全谷物、豆类和蔬菜。
然而,精制碳水化合物食物,如白面包或意大利面,会导致血糖迅速升高。施拉格建议,即使只是一个三明治,也要确保在吃之前服用适当剂量的胰岛素。
胰岛素问题
饮食控制并不能消除对药物的需求。Schrager强调说:“如果某人患有1型糖尿病,无论如何他们都需要胰岛素。”
使用胰岛素泵的患者应保持警惕,以防发生故障。当然,胰岛素泵越来越可靠。也就是说,把预充好的胰岛素笔、小瓶和注射器放在手边作为备份是明智的。
Schrager说:“运动可以在控制血糖方面发挥巨大的作用。”她说,总的来说,运动可以降低血糖,这取决于运动的类型。有氧运动如散步、慢跑或骑自行车有助于降低血糖。
然而,施拉格说,在某些情况下,抵抗运动可以提高血糖,尽管从长远来看,它可能确实有帮助。“每个人都是不同的,所以这是非常个性化的,”她说。运动前后测血糖很重要。
密切监控
监测体内的酮类物质,只需在试纸上撒尿,就能提醒某人是否可能即将发生DKA。施拉格说:“很多时候,人们可能没有(血糖)升高的症状。“他们可能感觉不到口渴,所以当发现时可能为时已晚,直到他们感到痉挛和恶心。”积极检查酮类物质可以让人们有时间决定是否需要额外注射胰岛素来降低血糖。
患有流感等疾病会增加血糖水平,使糖尿病患者更容易患上DKA。他们可能需要更密切地监测血糖,并相应地调整胰岛素剂量。卫生保健提供者可以提供额外的指导。
DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS is a dangerous complication for people with diabetes. DKA occurs when the body lacks insulin for too long, causing blood sugar to spike. DKA can quickly become a medical emergency. Fortunately, DKA responds to prompt treatment.
DKA is preventable. Keeping blood sugar under control is the challenge. For people with Type 1 diabetes, in particular, staying on top of insulin regimens, whether through multiple daily injections or an insulin pump, is vital.
However, rising insulin costs and shifting insurance coverage make it harder. Between 2012 and 2016, the price of common insulin products nearly doubled, according to a January 2019 report from the Health Care Cost Institute.
Average point-of-sales prices for insulin rose from 13 cents to 25 cents per unit. “That translates to an increase of $7.80 a day in 2012, to $15 a day in 2016 for someone using an average amount of insulin,” according to HCCI figures.
This week, Congress opened hearings on expensive prescription drugs, including remarks from lawmakers on spiking insulin prices forcing patients to risk their health by rationing insulin.
What Causes Diabetic Ketoacidosis?
When the body has too little of the hormone insulin, blood sugar rises far above normal as the body loses its ability to use sugar for energy. In ketoacidosis, the body becomes acidic as it instead uses fat for energy, causing acids called ketones to form. These ketones accumulate in the blood and spill into the urine.
Normally, insulin is produced in the pancreas. In Type 1 diabetes, people need outside sources of insulin to survive.
About 3 million people in the U.S. have Type 1 diabetes, says Dr. Guillermo Umpierrez, a professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, metabolism and lipids at Emory University School of Medicine, and chief of diabetes and endocrinology at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
“Diabetic ketoacidosis results from the significant or complete lack of insulin,” Umpierrez says. “Therefore, it’s much more common in patients with Type 1 diabetes. In the United States, we believe about one-third of the patients with diabetic ketoacidosis have Type 2 diabetes and two-thirds have Type 1 diabetes.”
Patients with Type 2 diabetes can develop ketoacidosis when they have an infection, are under stress or are taking certain medications. Long-term, poorly controlled diabetes may be one of the most important risk factors for patients with Type 2 diabetes to develop DKA, Umpierrez says.
At its worst, DKA can be fatal. However, mortality is strongly related to precipitating causes. In someone who is newly diagnosed with diabetes, or who has stopped taking insulin and develops ketoacidosis, mortality is less than 1 percent, Umpierrez says. However, if DKA occurs in the context of a heart attack or other serious medical condition, that risk rises.
Onset of DKA
For people who don’t know they have diabetes, the first DKA episode often leads to diagnosis. For those with known diabetes, DKA means blood sugar is spiraling out of control.
Blood sugar levels vary throughout the day. Fasting blood sugars, after waking and before eating, tend to be lower. A fasting blood sugar of less than 100 milligrams per deciliter is considered normal. A random blood glucose level of at least 200 mg/dL indicates diabetes.
With DKA, glucose usually surpasses 250 to 350. “The average blood glucose in a patient with diabetic ketoacidosis is about 600 mg/dL – or six to eight times the normal blood glucose level in a nondiabetic person,” Umpierrez says.
Early DKA Symptoms
To turn rising blood glucose levels around, patients must recognize early DKA symptoms:
DKA Emergency
Health care providers need to be aware of these progressing DKA symptoms and signs of dehydration:
DKA is highly dangerous for children, says Dr. Arleta Rewers, an associate professor of pediatrics-emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a physician at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “About 50 percent of kids who have DKA are admitted to the ICU,” she says. “They require very extensive treatment with fluids and insulin.”
Two basic scenarios bring children to the hospital, says Rewers, a contributor to the updated publication Diabetes in America from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The first is kids who are developing diabetes but aren’t yet diagnosed, who suddenly begin showing symptoms.
In kids known to have diabetes, missed insulin treatments or brewing infections can predispose them to developing DKA. “Also, kids on insulin pumps can have DKA,” Rewers says. “Sometimes there’s a malfunction and it’s not recognized early enough.”
Complications extend beyond the crisis. “DKA also has long-term consequences,” Rewers says. “It changes brain development and brain functioning for a long time. Kids who had DKA can show memory and learning problems going on for several years.”
Once diabetes is diagnosed, DKA wipes out remaining insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, Rewers says, thus reducing any ‘honeymoon period’ and increasing kids’ lifelong struggle with glucose control. “It leaves a permanent mark on the child.”
Up to 1 percent of kids who come to the hospital with DKA may develop cerebral edema, or swelling in the brain, Rewers notes. Cerebral swelling can be fatal or leave the child with catastrophic health consequences.
Team Approach
Working closely with your endocrinologist, diabetes educator, dietitian and primary care provider will help you stay in control of diabetes and prevent DKA. Monitoring blood glucose is the most proactive way to prevent DKA, says Cara Schrager, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
Continuous glucose monitoring systems, which are worn on the body, make it easier for users to know how their glucose is doing in the moment. CGM technology checks the wearer’s glucose every few minutes. Most monitors also have trend arrows.
However, many people with diabetes continue to rely on traditional finger sticks to check their blood glucose throughout the day. For a longer-term measure of blood glucose control, health care providers regularly do a blood test called hemoglobin A1C. The A1C shows your average blood sugar level for the past three months or so.
DKA and Diet
What people with diabetes eat and drink strongly affects their blood sugar levels and insulin requirements. Polishing off a large carton of orange juice without adjusting insulin could potentially put someone with diabetes into DKA.
“Someone might not realize that drinking a lot of soda, juice or any kind of sugary beverage would raise blood sugar that much,” Schrager says. “So, if they’re pretty thirsty because of high blood sugar, and are drinking that type of beverage to quench the thirst – that could lead to even higher blood sugar.”
If you have diabetes, taking a good look at your diet can reduce DKA risk. “Because carbohydrates contribute to high blood sugar, you can see what types and amounts of carbohydrates are in the diet and whether or not that needs to be modified, or if insulin needs to be increased throughout the day,” Schrager says.
A carb-controlled diet including complex carbs helps avoid blood-glucose spikes. Complex carbs occur in plant foods such as whole grains, beans and veggies.
However, refined-carb foods, such as white bread or pasta, lead to rapid rises in blood sugar. Make sure to take an appropriate insulin dose before eating, Schrager advises, even if it’s just a sandwich.
Insulin Issues
Diet control doesn’t eliminate the need for medication. “If someone has Type 1 diabetes, they need insulin no matter what,” Schrager emphasizes.
Patients who use insulin pumps should stay on guard for malfunctions. However, insulin pumps are increasingly reliable. That said, it’s wise to keep prefilled insulin pens, or vials and syringes, on hand as backups.
“Exercise can play a huge role in managing blood sugars,” Schrager says. In general, she says, exercise reduces blood sugar, depending on the type of activity. Aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging or biking tends to lower blood sugar.
However, resistance exercise can in some cases raise blood sugar, Schrager says, although it may actually help over the long term. “Everybody is different, so it’s very individualized,” she says. Testing blood sugar before and after exercise is important.
Closer Monitoring
Monitoring ketones in the body, simply by urinating on a test strip, can alert someone to impending DKA. “A lot of times people might not have symptoms of (blood sugar) highs,” Schrager says. “They may not feel the thirst, so it may be too late, until they have the cramping and nausea.” Proactively checking for ketones allows people time to determine if they need an extra insulin injection to lower blood sugar.
Being sick with conditions like the flu can increase blood glucose levels and make people with diabetes more vulnerable to DKA. They may need to more closely monitor their blood sugar and adjust insulin dosages accordingly. Health care providers can offer additional guidance.