diabetes) or due to losses from frequent vomiting. The control of urinary ketone is particularly useful in managing and monitoring diabetes mellitus type 1. Ketonuria indicates an insulin deficiency that indicates the need to regulate its dosage. An increase in the blood concentration of ketone produces a water-electrolyte imbalance, dehydration and if not corrected, acidosis and in the end diabetic coma. The three ketone compounds appear in different proportions in the urine, although these proportions are relatively constant in different samples as both the acetone and the beta-hydroxybutyric acid are produced from the acetoacetic acid. The proportions are 78% beta-hydroxybutyric acid, 20% acetoacetic acid and 2% acetone. The test used in the urine test strips is based on the reaction of sodium nitroprusside (nitroferricyanide). In this reaction the acetoacetic acid in an alkali medium reacts with the sodium nitroprusside producing a magenta coloured complex: Na2[Fe(CN)5NO] + CH3COCH2COOH + 2Na(OH) → Na4[Fe(CN)5-N=CHCOCH2COOH](magenta) + H2O Sodium nitroprusside + Acetoacetic acid + Alkali medium → Pink-magenta complex + Water The test does not measure beta-hydroxybutyric acid and it is only weakly sensitive to acetone when glycine is added to the reaction. However, as these compounds are derived from the acetoacetic acid their existence can be assumed and a separate test is not therefore necessary. Those medicines that contain sulfhydryl groups, such as mercaptoethane sulphonate Na (Mesna) and captopril and L-DOPA can give atypical colouring. A false negative can occur in samples that have not been adequately stored due to volatilization and bacterial degradation. Liver and blood disorders In many liver diseases the patients often show signs of pathology only at a late stage. Early diagnosis allows appropriate therapeutic measures to be instituted in good time, avoiding consequential damage and further infections. Specific liver diseases and haemolytic disorders able to be identified include liver disease, (accompanied by jaundice), cirrhosis, urobilinogenuria and bilirubinuria. Bilirubin test Bilirubin is a highly pigmented compound that is a by-product of haemoglobin degradation. The haemoglobin that is released after the mononuclear phagocyte system (located in the liver and spleen) withdraws old red blood cells from circulation is degraded into its components; iron, protoporphyrin and protein. The system's cells convert the protoporphyrin into unconjugated bilirubin that passes through the circulatory system bound to protein, particularly albumin. The kidney is unable to filter out this bilirubin as it is bound to protein, however, it is conjugated with glucuronic acid in the liver