Why do diabetics have the fruity smell of ketones on their breath?

Question

Need to know for a assignment, and i can't find an answer anywere

Answer 1

Don't know if this is enough info: 'The ketone smell is a consequence of fat metabolism. It depends on the nature of the smell. The smell of ketone is characteristically sweet (somewhat like the smell of nail polish remover). Ketone bodies are synthesized by the liver whenever fatty acid levels are high in the blood. Under normal conditions there are very few ketone bodies in the blood because they are chewed up as quickly as they are formed. Excess ketone bodies are made by the liver when blood glucose is kept persistently low or when glucose uptake into cells is not working efficiently. This latter situation occurs with insulin-dependent diabetics - the smell of ketone bodies on their breath is a diagnostic sign of their disease.'

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

I think the previous answers have covered it. Only if the body is producing ketones, which is caused when there is too little insulin in the body and the body starts burning fat to use as fuel. The body starts burning fat as insulin is the key which allows the glucose into the cells. If there is too little insulin, while there may be glucose in the blood, the body's cells cannot use it. Ketones are the by-product of fat breakdown. Large quantities are toxic. Thus diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Someone without diabetes cannot usually get into this state- people who are dieting heavily may have some level of ketones, when fat is broken down.

Answer 5

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RE:
Why do diabetics have the fruity smell of ketones on their breath?
Need to know for a assignment, and i can't find an answer anywere

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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Answer 8

Mostly they don't. But when they do, it's a real problem and a medical emergency.

When they do, it's because of abnormally high amounts of acetone (one of the chemical class, ketone, and used industrially as a solvent, as for instance in many nail polish removers) in the blood. It's got a distinctinve sort of smell. Since it evaporates very quickly, it's usually in air exhaled from the lungs, hence the smell on the breath. There are two other 'ketone bodies' (that name's left over from history when these things weren't understood very well - neither is actually a ketone chemically) always present in the blood at high levels when actetone is being breathed out. They don't evaporate very well and so are retained.

These chemicals are produced during 'ketosis', meaning that metabolic phase when fatty acids are the pirmary source of cellular fuel. It's a perfectly normal business, when we haven't earten recently the body switches over in the usual course of events and switches back to glucose as fuel after eating. Low insulin (caused by low levels of glucose in the blood) is the signal for the switch. And high insulin (eg, after eating) is the reverse. During ketosis, the body switches over to burning fat, fat cells put blood lipids into circulation instead of taking them out of the blood as they do when not in ketosis, and the liver begins converting them into usable fuel. In normal circustances, all of this produces the three ketone bodies, which are promptly used as feed stocks for the next stages of the fat metabolism cycle. In non-diabetics, there's rarely a problem even when ketosis continues for several days (as during a fast).

In diabetics, in the absence of insulin (ran out, forgot, ...), in the presence of infection or stress, things are different. The next reactions in the fat metabolism cycle don't use up all the ketone bodies, and they're released from the liver in considerable quantities. Since the two that don't end up in the breath are acidic, the result is to eventually (after a few hours, even days) change the pH of body fluids sufficiently to be dangerous.

The condition is called "diabetic ketoacidosis" (DKA) and is a frank medical emergency. It is often fatal, and requires care and attention under hospital conditions for a good chance at recovery. The derangements in body chemistry caused by the errant pH take a few hours to resolve properly, and monitoring is a must. For instance, patients with DKA are often potassium depleted, even though their blood levels may be near normal. This is very dangerous as insufficient potassium interferes with the operation of many cells, including heart muscle cells. DKA is not something to be taken lightly.

It's more common among Type 1 diabetics (the kind who must have external insulin) than Type 2 diabetics (the kind who can sometimes manage on diet and exercise alone, sometimes on pills, and only sometimes require insulin).

There are urine teststrips for ketone levels, the 'fruity breath smell' test, and blood tests as well. For someone prone to DKA, it's probably best to keep the urine test strips around since a head cold in someone trying to sniff for fruity breath might lead to misplaced confidence there's no problem. Note, of course, that most folks aren't able to smell their own breath properly, having acclimated to it quite well.

Answer 9

The smell is due to ketones in the body. Ketones come from the use of muscle tissue to produce energy.

Answer 10

Diabetics with high blood sugar have this smell of keytones, because that is what is happening in the body, sugar is being changed to keytones. and should probably have their insulin shots soon.

A diabetic with low blood sugar does not have this smell on their breath