- Ketones and blood sugar

[Guest guest]

achel, it's so confusing most doctors can't grasp the concept. This

is a bit of an oversimplification, but easy to understand.

Ketones only occur with high blood sugar in diabetics

Ketones occur with starvation in everyone else (not necessarily with

low blood sugar, it can be normal)

in RSS kids the " starvation " process kicks in much sooner... ie

within hours, rather than days. This is roughly the process in RSS

kids. Remember that the body likes its environment to be maintained

within fairly narrow parameters.

1) blood sugar drops a little (low end of normal).

2) glycogen (stored glucose) from the liver is converted to glucose

3) blood sugar is maintained

4) RSS child runs out of stored glucose quickly (small body = small

liver = small storage space; big head = small amount of stored

glucose is used up quickly)

5)body starts to break down fat and muscle to maintain an energy

source for the body. Ketones are a part of this process.

6) Ketones are eliminated via the kidneys (in the urine)

This can occur with the blood sugar still in normal ranges, though

many RSS kids do get low blood sugar as part of the process. If you

get an argument from your paed, look at him like he's a moron and ask

whether if he's spilling ketones, isn't he losing weight? and

wouldn't that be a BAD thing? Some of them won't just recognise the

hypoglycaemia issues though, I think it's left over from the days

when they were taught the ONLY possible ways for someone to be

hypoglycaemic were for a diabetic (on insulin, where the insulin

causes a drop in blood sugar) or if you have a pancreatic tumor (and

your body produces too much insulin, and again the insulin causes the

drop in blood sugar)

Sorry for the lecture. Hope it makes some kind of sense.

{{HUGS}}

Steph (mum to Darcy 3 RSS and Tessa 7)