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May 4, 2004

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Question from Mitcham, Surrey, United Kingdom:

How do ketones affect the muscles in your stomach?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

I don’t know if I understand your question. If you mean ketones that appear when the blood sugar level is high, this condition means that in your child’s body there is not enough insulin, or a too low level to use glucose, so he has to use fat as energy. But, using fat makes a lot of ‘dust’, called ketone bodies. In this condition, muscles can’t work well so each movement appears slow and difficult. It is like your car needing diesel fuel instead of gasoline and the engine produces a lot of refuse. For the human body ketones are these ‘refuses’. It is clear that muscles can’t work at their best; the body is tired, and less efficient. If you mean that ketone bodies get your child’s stomach to feel a stomach ache, this is a normal response of the body to this ‘refuse’ and the ache disappears when the ketones are eliminated.

AS