Lactic acidosis - what is it? You can find out the answer to the question asked from the materials of this article. In addition, your attention will be provided with information about what are the symptoms of this deviation, the causes of its occurrence and existing methods of struggle.
General information about the disease
So, the topic of our conversation is lactic acidosis. What is it and how to treat it? This is a deviation in which hyperlactacidemic coma is provoked. This complication is especially important for patients with diabetes mellitus. After all, the accumulation of lactic acid in the body (in the skin, brain, skeletal muscles, etc.) can further provoke the development of metabolic acidosis. Before understanding how to avoid such a complication, you should consider the most likely causes of its occurrence.
Main causes of occurrence
Lactic acidosis (symptoms and treatment of this disease will be discussed below) may occur due to pathological conditions such as:
- infectious and inflammatory diseases;
- strong physicalinjury;
- kidney failure;
- chronic alcoholism;
- acute myocardial infarction;
- massive bleeding;
- liver disease.
Among other things, among the factors causing lactic acidosis, biguanides take a special place. So, antihyperglycemic drugs, even in minimal doses, can easily provoke this complication, especially with liver or kidney damage. It should also be noted that the pathology under consideration often occurs with skeletal muscle hypoxia, which develops due to prolonged physical exertion. In addition, the cause of this disease in some cases is leukemia and a number of other tumor processes. This can also include respiratory failure and thiamine deficiency in the body.
Lactic acidosis: symptoms of the disease
Pathology develops rapidly and covers the entire body in just a few hours. It should be especially noted that before the onset of the acute course of the disease, the patient usually does not show any symptoms. Although there are some signs by which it can be understood that there is an excess of lactic acid in the blood. These signs include:
- muscle pain;
- apathy;
- chest pain;
- rapid breathing;
- Insomnia or, conversely, drowsiness.
In addition, the main symptom of such a pathological condition can be called cardiovascular insufficiency. After all, it is this disease that is complicated by high acidity.
Signs of lactic acidosis appear more intensely with the course of the disease. In this case, the patient may feel a feeling of nausea. After some time, patients experience vomiting, which is gradually joined by severe pain in the abdomen. In the event that at this stage a person is not helped, his condition worsens significantly. In such a situation, the patient ceases to perceive reality. He begins to react very slowly to the actions of the people around him. Sometimes the patient experiences involuntary contractions of various muscles, resulting in convulsions, then the patient's motor ability is noticeably weakened.
The harbinger of hyperlactacidemic coma is intermittent breathing. At the same time, no foreign odors are observed (for example, as in ketoacidosis). After that, the person simply loses consciousness.
Diagnosis
We de alt with the question posed at the beginning of the article: "Lactic acidosis - what is it?", We examined the signs of this deviation. Now we need to talk about how to act in such a situation. If your loved one has at least a few of the above symptoms, then you should immediately call a doctor. It is far from certain that the patient has lactic acidosis. After all, such signs may indicate other whitening. To make a correct diagnosis, it is necessary to do a complete blood count. If it contains a high content of milkacids, as well as reduced levels of bicarbonates and reserve alkalinity, then it makes sense to talk about lactic acidosis.
Lactic acidosis: treatment of the disease
With such a disease, therapy should be aimed at the prompt elimination of hypoxia and acidosis. Emergency care involves intravenous administration (drip) of sodium bicarbonate solution (4 or 2.5%) up to two liters per day. In this case, doctors must keep under tight control the levels of pH and potassium in the blood. In addition, intensive insulin therapy or monocomponent insulin therapy is mandatory for lactic acidosis. As additional drugs, doctors use intravenous carboxylase (drip) in an amount of 200 mg per day. The introduction of rheopolyglucin, blood plasma, as well as small doses of heparin, which contribute to the correction of hemostasis, is also relevant.
Disease prevention
Well, the answer to the question: "Lactic acidosis - what is it?" known to you. And how to prevent such troubles? As preventive measures that prevent the onset of hyperlactacidemic coma, there are the prevention of hypoxia and control over the compensation of diabetes. Lactic acidosis resulting from the use of biguanides requires special rigor in the individual determination of the doses of the drug.
Most often, this disease is found in those patients who did not know they had diabetes, as a result, the disease proceeded without the necessary treatment. Toto prevent the occurrence of lactic acidosis, all prescriptions of the attending physician should be strictly observed. It is also necessary to monitor the dynamics of the development of the disease, regularly undergo a complete medical examination, take all tests and take proper therapy. If you suspect lactic acidosis, you should contact an endocrinologist without any delay. Only in this way can you avoid negative consequences and get rid of the unpleasant symptoms that accompany this disease.
