What Is Diabetic Ketoacidosis?
1. Causes
As briefly mentioned, the commonest causes of diabetic ketoacidosis are an underlying infection (40%), disruption with insulin treatment (25%), and undiagnosed or newly diagnosed diabetes (15%). If categorized based on subtypes of diabetes, causes of diabetic ketoacidosis in type 1 diabetes are insulin deficiency, poor insulin compliance, omission of insulin, bacterial infection, stress (medical, surgical, emotional), failure of insulin infusion pump, or no identifiable cause. In type 2 diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis can occur during illness (such as pneumonia, urinary tract infection, prostatitis, heart attack) and medications (clozapine, corticosteroids). It can also occur in pregnant women who have gestational or preexisting diabetes due to physiological changes in pregnancy.
