Skip to main content
Log in

Diabetic coma problems of fluid and electrolyte balance

  • Published:
The American Journal of Digestive Diseases

Summary

  1. 1.

    Diabetic acidosis and coma develop through the steps of dehydration and starvation; its severity is proportional to the degree of fluid and electrolyte imbalance.

  2. 2.

    Diabetic acidosis and coma are not precipitated by hyperglycemia itself, but only by that type of hyperglycemia which is due to critical insulin deficiency.

  3. 3.

    Critical insulin deficiency may be caused by various mechanisms; these constitute a vicious cycle leading to coma and acidosis.

  4. 4.

    The need for large doses of insulin, for fluid replacement and judicious use of glucose in coma treatment is emphasized.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Read at the Clinical Session of the American Medical Association, Cleveland, Ohio, December 5–8, 1950.

Sponsored by the Veterans Administration and published with the approval of the Chief Medical Director. The statements and conclusions published by the author are a result of his own study and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of the Veterans Administration.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Goldner, M.G. Diabetic coma problems of fluid and electrolyte balance. Amer. Jour. Dig. Dis. 18, 235–240 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02891986

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02891986

Keywords

Navigation