Skip to main content Skip to main content

Chemistry: Challenges and Solutions

Ketoacidosis (animation)

Ketoacidosis occurs when the cells in the body cannot take up glucose efficiently. To stay alive, the cells look for energy from other sources such as fats and amino acids. When these break down, the products produce a large amount of acid that has to be eliminated from the body. When somebody comes into the emergency room in ketoacidosis, their blood pH may be anywhere from 6.8 to 7.2, which often overwhelms the buffer systems that are available.

Series Directory

Chemistry: Challenges and Solutions

Credits

Produced by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. 2014.
  • Closed Captioning

Units