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DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS IN CHILDHOOD
Author(s) -
Silink M.,
Vines R.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1973.tb200010.x
Subject(s) - diabetic ketoacidosis , ketoacidosis , medicine , pediatrics , diabetes mellitus , intensive care medicine , endocrinology , type 1 diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a disorder of energy utilization and homeostasis, characterized not only by carbohydrate intolerance, but also by marked alterations in lipid and protein metabolism. Although the fundamental biochemical basis for diabetes mellitus remains to be elucidated, its major acute metabolic complication, diabetic ketoacidosis, can largely be attributed to insufficient insulin secretion. The frequency with which diabetic ketoacidosis is the mode of initial presentation in childhood diabetes mellitus has been reported by Danowski to be 18%. Ketoacidosis has been found to occur most frequently in the first five years after the diagnosis of diabetes and in the teenage years, regardless of the duration of the diabetes. Diabetic ketoacidosis demands prompt action to restore the delicate physiological balance. Response to therapy is very dependent on precise management. Whilst the mortality rate in childhood diabetic ketoacidosis is low, it should be nonexistent.