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5. Diagnosis Criteria
Diabetic ketoacidosis is easily distinguished from the other diabetes-related conditions due to a large number of ketones from the blood and urine samples. Ketoacidosis will not only occur in patients with diabetes, but it can also happen as a result of starvation and excess consumption of alcohol.
The ADA or American Diabetes Association has categorized diabetic ketoacidosis in three stages of severity – mild, moderate, and severe. Mild cases will experience a slight decrease in blood pH, that’s around 7.25 to 7.30. Moderate cases will have a blood pH of 7 to 7.25, and severe cases will have a blood pH of less than 7. At this point, the patient is already in a coma.
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