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Acetonemic vomiting - signs and first aid.

Acetonemic vomiting develops under circumstances associated with metabolic disorders during the assimilation of fats and carbohydrates. With an excessive intake of too fatty food and at the same time an insufficient intake of food with a content of carbohydrate compounds in a limited time period, the level of acetone bodies in the blood increases in people with disorders in the utilization of these substances. Not being able to be fully absorbed by the tissues of the body, acetone bodies are excessively distributed in such a way that they begin to be excreted in the urine and excreted in large quantities through the mucous layer back into the gastrointestinal tract, causing processes akin to toxic poisoning.

Most often acetonemic vomiting can occur in childhood (2-10 years) against the background of nutritional disorders (incorrect proportions of the carbohydrate-fatty component of food) and against the background of certain disorders in the area of the digestive tract (acute or chronic liver diseases, with diseases of biliary paths), as well as with functional disorders of the nervous system, associated with increased nervous excitability, neurasthenia (increased excitability of the vomiting center).

These factors in various combinations can provoke indomitable vomiting in children with repetitions from 2 to 30 times a day.

Usually acetone vomiting begins as a result of excessive consumption of large amounts of fatty foods to the detriment of carbohydrate and protein foods. Acetonemic vomiting is a clear indicator that only fatty foods abound in the child's diet (fried meat and vegetable, smoked meat and fish, lard, fatty fish, high-fat dairy food, seafood with a high fat content, fatty broths, fatty aspic, abundance of chocolate and products from cocoa beans), and little carbohydrates that balance the absorption of fats enter the body.

Several typical examples of the development of indomitable acetonemic vomiting are associated with overfeeding a child with fish caviar, fish oil, and fatty fish, despite the generally recognized usefulness of these products in nutrition.

Within one to two days before the onset of an immediate emetic attack, several symptoms may precede acetonemic vomiting:

loss of appetite,
headache,
stool retention,
the smell of acetone from the mouth,
general reduced body tone.

Acetonemic vomiting differs in the nature of the course for several reasons from ordinary food (toxic) vomiting, which makes it possible to correctly diagnose a health disorder without special special examinations.

The signs of acetonemic vomiting are very typical:

indomitable vomiting suddenly begins (almost non-stop) - may begin at night;
the duration of an attack of vomiting ranges from several hours of continuous vomiting to several days;
the smell of acetone is felt from the mouth;
at first, vomiting is accompanied by the release of vomit, consisting of food eaten the day before, and then the vomit consists of mucus and bile;
vomiting is accompanied by severe bouts of thirst, but after taking liquid it resumes - a new attack of vomiting begins;
vomiting may be accompanied by cramping pain in the abdomen (the result of spasm of the walls of the stomach and intestines);
may be accompanied by a rise in body temperature;
may stop as suddenly as it began (but only in some rare cases) - usually a mandatory call to a doctor or emergency medical assistant is required.

With prolonged acetone vomiting, body weight rapidly decreases, forced dehydration of the body occurs, and general health deteriorates. The child becomes apathetic (lethargic, inhibited), loses interest in food.

Before the arrival of the doctor, it is necessary to follow several first aid rules so as not to worsen the child's condition with indomitable acetonemic vomiting:

To bed
Stop giving food
Observe frequent drinking regimen, but in small doses,
From a set of liquids, take cool, but not too cold drinks (degassed water (degassed mineral water can be used), cold tea, juice diluted with water, chilled compote without berries or fruit drink without berries),
Do not drink milk or other milk drinks, broths - such drinks may contain fatty substances.

You should wait for the doctor and follow his recommendations, regardless of whether the vomiting episode ends on its own or continues at intervals.

Acetonemic vomiting can happen once, but this condition signals that latent problems of metabolic disorders, disturbances in the functioning of the digestive organs or disturbances in the innervation of the digestive organs may develop in the child's body.

After suffering acetonemic vomiting, it is recommended to carefully monitor the process of food intake and a set of foods, to adhere to low-fat diets, but with a large amount of proteins and carbohydrates of plant origin (fruits, vegetables, berries). Eliminate from the diet meat and fish smoked meats, sausages, fatty meats, fatty seafood, butter, fatty sour cream, fatty cheeses, fatty cottage cheese, milk and kefir of high percentage of fat, sweets with the participation of any vegetable fats, pastries from dough with a high content fat, fatty creams, fatty ice cream, chocolate confectionery, nuts and seeds.

In parallel with the change in the quality of nutrition, an examination of hidden health problems is carried out, diseases that can become factors in the development of acetonemic vomiting are treated.

The restoration of the child's body after attacks of acetonemic vomiting, subject to the recommendations, takes place without health consequences. If the recommendations of the doctor supervising the child are not followed, it is possible to provoke repeated repetitions of cases of acetonemic vomiting and cause complications with the child's health in the future.