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02-03-2017 | Ketoacidosis | News

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Type 1 diabetes patients lax about testing ketones

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medwireNews: A large survey highlights that patients with type 1 diabetes are poorly compliant with self-monitoring their ketone levels when needed, leading the researchers to urge better education on the subject.

Around half of the 2995 patients surveyed rarely or never checked their ketones and 32% did not even have ketone testing supplies at home at the time of the survey, report Kellee Miller (Jaeb Center for Health Research, Tampa, Florida, USA) and co-researchers.

“The potential benefits of self-monitoring of ketones can only be realized if ketone monitoring and management are conducted as advised,” they write in Diabetes Care.

Parents of children aged between 4 years (the youngest age included in the survey) and 6 years were the most diligent about checking ketones, with 53% doing so when their child’s glucose level was above 300 mg/dL for an hour or more and 68% doing so when their child had nausea or vomiting.

At the other end of the scale, adults were extremely lax about testing, with only 7% to 11% of age groups older than 26 years checking ketones in the event of prolonged hyperglycemia and 9% doing so in the event of nausea and vomiting.

By Eleanor McDermid

medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2017

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