Someone has just been brought into the emergency room of City General Hospital. They are perspiring profusely and is breathing rapidly and irregularly. Their breath smells like acetone (sweet and fruity), and blood sugar tests out at 650 mg/100 ml blood.They are in acidosis.What hormone drug should be administered, and why?

Think about insulin,

Insulin takes sugar from the blood and puts it into the organs.

insulin - because their blood sugar is too high.


Yes you must also hydrate like the good doctor said, but Idid not include it in this answer b/c you only ask for the drug.

Your patient is in diabetic ketoacidosis. Insulin is the right answer, but more important than insulin is IV fluids. There is a very serious problem with renal (kidney) function in these cases. The patient will lose water. Because of the excess sugar, the kidneys no longer maintain appropriate balances of electrolytes. It is the mistake of physician in training to stop with insulin as the key treatment, when it is fluid administration that will save the patient is life.

Insulin, which is secreted by the islet cells of the pancreas, is the signal to cells to pull in sugar out of the bloodstream. This will reduce the sugar levels for the patient & allow cell metabolism to procede in the normal fashon.