What are common causes of DKA?

What are common causes of DKA?

• A. Chronic hypoglycemia due to excessive insulin.
• B. Only dehydration.
• C. High-protein diet.
• D. Undiagnosed Type I DM, illness or infection, non-compliance, and conditions like Cushing's syndrome and hyperthyroidism.

Answer: (D)

DKA happens when there isn’t enough insulin relative to the body’s hormonal stress response, so glucose production is increased and fat is broken down into ketones. Those ketones build up and cause metabolic acidosis, with high blood glucose and dehydration from osmotic diuresis. The common triggers are new-onset Type 1 diabetes presenting with DKA, illnesses or infections that raise stress hormones, poor adherence or inability to take insulin, and other conditions that increase insulin resistance or cortisol activity—such as Cushing’s syndrome or hyperthyroidism. The other options don’t fit because chronic hypoglycemia results from too much insulin and would not lead to ketone production and acidosis; dehydration alone is not the root cause of DKA; and a high-protein diet does not trigger the insulin deficiency and ketogenesis pattern seen in DKA.

DKA happens when there isn’t enough insulin relative to the body’s hormonal stress response, so glucose production is increased and fat is broken down into ketones. Those ketones build up and cause metabolic acidosis, with high blood glucose and dehydration from osmotic diuresis. The common triggers are new-onset Type 1 diabetes presenting with DKA, illnesses or infections that raise stress hormones, poor adherence or inability to take insulin, and other conditions that increase insulin resistance or cortisol activity—such as Cushing’s syndrome or hyperthyroidism.

The other options don’t fit because chronic hypoglycemia results from too much insulin and would not lead to ketone production and acidosis; dehydration alone is not the root cause of DKA; and a high-protein diet does not trigger the insulin deficiency and ketogenesis pattern seen in DKA.