Ketone testing

A ketone test checks for ketones in your blood or urine. Ketones are made when the body breaks down fat for energy instead of using sugar from the blood. This can happen if you have diabetes and don't get enough insulin. It can also happen if you have diabetes and are ill.

A blood test analyzed by a laboratory is the most accurate method of measuring ketones. It is recommended for all people with diabetes whenever symptoms of illness are present, such as nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain. These symptoms often happen with high blood sugar and may mean you have diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially life-threatening condition.

Home blood or urine ketone tests:

• Monitor a person who has diabetes, especially when that person is sick.
• Monitor a person on a low-carbohydrate diet and/or high-fat diet.
• Monitor a person who is not able to eat due to anorexia or fasting, who is vomiting a lot, and/or who has diarrhea.
• Monitor a person who is sick.
• Monitor a pregnant woman who has diabetes or has developed gestational diabetes.

Blood test in a doctor's office or hospital

A health professional uses a needle to take a blood sample, usually from an arm.

Blood test at home

Some home blood sugar meters can also measure blood ketones. You use the same finger-prick method that you use to measure your child's blood sugar.

Home urine test

• Collect a sample of urine in a clean container.
• Follow the manufacturer's directions on the bottle of test strips or tablets.

You do not need to do anything to prepare for this test.

• With the home urine test, if either the test strip changes color or the urine changes color when the tablet is dropped into the sample, ketones are present in your child's urine sample. The test results are read as negative to 1+ to 4+, or small to large.
• Blood ketone tests that use a meter will display the result on the monitor. Your doctor can tell you what ketone range is high for your child (for example, 0.6 mmol/L or higher).
• Talk to your doctor ahead of time about what to do when your child's ketone levels are high.