Diabetes Ketoacidosis (DKA) starts to express symptoms from the lack of the hormone insulin. When things are working normally, insulin delivers glucose (from food intake) into cells, where it can be converted into energy. But without enough insulin in the body, glucose accumulates in the blood, where it is of little use. Even though there is plenty of glucose around, it can't get into the cells to feed them. The body's response is to drive up blood glucose even more by spurring the liver to break down its glucose stores and to make additional glucose from scratch.
As the body tries to clear the surplus glucose out of its blood through urination, a person may become dangerously dehydrated. At the same time, the body starts to liquidate fat deposits for energy. Fat is indeed rich in energy, but breaking down these stockpiles produces acidic side products called ketones. In high enough concentrations, ketones become toxic by making the blood more acidic. This imbalance is the crux of DKA and gives this complication its name. This increase in blood acidity can severely disrupt the finely tuned chemical processes in your body that keep you living and healthy.
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