Diabetic coma is a reversible coma in diabetic patients and constitutes a medical emergency, potentially requiring various levels of care. It can arise from severe hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, or hyperosmolar non-ketotic coma, which are characterized by extreme levels of blood glucose. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition marked by elevated blood glucose levels due to insufficient insulin, leading to various metabolic complications.

1. DIABETIC COMA
GROUP 5

2. DIABETIC COMA
• Diabetic coma is a reversible form of coma found in
people with diabetes mellitus.
• It is a medical emergency.
• Thus, an injury or illness that is acute and poses an
immediate risk to a person’s life or long term health.
• Dependent on the severity of the emergency, and the
quality of any treatment given, it may require the
involvement of multiple levels of care, from first
aiders to Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and
emergency physicians.

3. DIABETIC COMA con’’t
• Three different types of diabetic coma are identified;
Severe diabetic hypoglycemia.
Diabetic ketoacidosis advanced enough to result in
unconsciousness from the combination of severe
hyperglycemia, dehydration and shock and
exhaustion.
Hyperosmolar non-ketotic coma in which extreme
hyperglycemia and dehydration alone are sufficient
to cause unconsciousness.

4. DIABETES MELLITUS
• It is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by
hyperglycemia (abnormally high level of blood
glucose) due to insufficient or luck of insulin in the
body.
• In this country this condition is referred to as ‘sugar
disease’ (asikyire yare3) due to the glucose in the
urine.
• There is therefore a wrong thinking that the disease
is caused by excessive intake of sugar instead of
deficiency in the secretion of insulin.

5. PHYSIOLOGY
• Insulin is produced by the beta cells of the pancreas and
is responsible for promoting the utilization of glucose in
the muscles, converting it into glycogen and fat to be
stored in the liver and adipose tissue respectively.
• The rate of insulin released from the pancreas should be
proportional to the amount of glucose in the portal vein.
• When there is luck of insulin or delayed release of insulin
in the body, there is high level of glucose in the blood.
• Glucose in the blood comes from ingested carbohydrates
or conversion of amino acids and fatty acids by the liver
to glucose.

6. PHYSIOLOGY con’t
• When the muscles cannot utilize glucose, the liver
produces glucose to feed the body and this further
increases blood glucose to feed the body an this further
increases blood glucose level.
• In severe insulin deficiency, when the liver attempts to
convert glycogen to provide energy, ketone bodies are
found in the liver.
• The presence of ketone bodies cause acidosis or ketosis.
• If the concentration of glucose in the blood is high the
kidneys are not able to reabsorb all the filtered glucose
which then appears in the urine (glycosuria).