Hey there, friend, my name is Christina Rafano from nursing school of success.com, and in
this video I'm going to walk you through the pathophysiology of diabetic ketoacidosis (or
DKA for short), and we'll break it down into 5 simple steps so that you can finally understand
it for nursing school.
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Because I've got a pretty awesome nursing school hack for you.
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It's basically like having a whole library of your favorite videos, made for you and
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you go through nursing school.
Now, let's get to it!
[INTRO] [INTRO]
[INTRO] Alrighty, so let's do a brief overview of
diabetic ketoacidosis first, and then we'll dive into the steps.
So DKA happens when there is not enough insulin in the body, and so the cells aren't getting
glucose for energy.
So they start converting fat into energy instead.
And this fat breakdown leads to ketones building up in the blood, which are acids.
That's where it get it's name, diabetic KETO, as in ketones, and acidosis, as in acids.
So keto-acidosis.
So that's just a brief overview of what's going on here.
And DKA mostly happens during type 1 diabetes, but it can also happen during type 2 as well.
So let's get into the nitty gritty of the pathophysiolog of diabetic ketoacidosis.
And if you want to know more about diabetic ketoacidosis, you can click the link in the
description below to download a free DKA study guide.
I put a link to that in the description below.
Alrighty, so step one of the pathophysiology of DKA is there is not enough insulin.
So normally in your body, your pancreas produces insulin, and insulin's job is to grab onto
glucose and move it into the cells so that the cells cause them for energy.
Pretty cool right?
I like to think about insulin as a door to door salesman, and he is selling glucose.
So Mr. Insulin goes around the neighborhood, and knocks on door after door of all of the
body cells asking if anyone wants to buy his glucose.
So normally, all of the cells want to buy insulin's glucose, because they are all hungry
for that energy, and let's be honest, who doesn't like sugar right?
So typically, insulin gives away a lot of glucose.
But here's the problem in diabetic ketoacidosis, insulin didn't show up for work!
So there's all this glucose around, but Mr. insulin is playing hooky!
So there's no one to give the cells their glucose.
And now, hyperglycemia occurs, which is step 2 of DKA.
This causes hyperglycemia, because there isn't any insulin around to move glucose into the
cells, so that glucose just builds up and builds up in the blood.
So the cells are there really wanting their glucose, but Mr. Insulin isn't around to give
it to them.
But thankfully, they have some stored up fat to use for energy, and this is step 3 of DKA,
the cells use fat as energy.
And when fat is converted into energy, ketones are produced, which are acids.
Which is step 4, ketones are produced as a biproduct of fat metabolism.
And the, this leads to step number 5, which is acidosis.
The more the ketone levels rise in the body, the more the acid level rises in the body,
because ketones are acids.
And so the more ketones there are, the more serious the acidosis becomes.
Okydoky, so there are the 5 steps of diabetic ketoacidosis: step 1, there is not enough
insulin, step 2: the blood glucose levels rise in the body causing hyperglycemia, because
there isn't enough insulin to push it into the cell, step 3: the cells use fat for energy
instead of glucose, step 4: ketones are produced as a biproduct of this fat metabolism, and
step 5: acidosis occurs the more these ketones build up in the blood, because ketones are
acids.
Fantastic job, friend!
Make sure to download your free study guide for DKA, I put a link to that in the description
below this video.
And don't forget to save this video to your boards on Pinterest so you can always keep
track of your favorite videos for when you need them later in nursing school.
Thank you so much for watching, friend.
Now go become the nurse that God created only YOU to be.
I'll catch you right back here next time on the nursing school show.
Take care.