A chemical compound that is an intermediate product formed during the breakdown of fats in your body, especially important in diabetes.
From aceto- (acetic acid) + acetate (salt or ester of acetic acid). It's literally two acetyl groups combined, reflecting the organic chemistry naming system developed by 19th-century chemists.
Your body naturally makes acetoacetate when you fast or have diabetes—it's one of the 'ketone bodies' that your liver produces as an alternative fuel when glucose isn't available, which is why doctors test for it in diabetic patients.
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