The functioning of your body is critically dependent on the close regulation of potassium levels. Potassium is an essential mineral and an electrolyte. Potassium exists inside the cells of your body and outside, in the extracellular spaces. The concentration inside the cells is 30 times higher than outside, allowing for the transfer of electrical charges, vital for heart functioning, muscle contractions and nerve impulses. High potassium levels, or hyperkalemia, may cause life-threatening situations.
Symptoms of Hyperkalemia
Symptoms of high serum potassium may occur in doses as low as 18 g, especially if you're unaccustomed to taking potassium supplements, notes the Linus Pauling Institute. Hyperkalemia may cause nausea, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, tingling in the hands and feet, temporary paralysis, difficulty breathing, fatigue and weakness. In more serious cases, hyperkalemia may lead to cardiac arrest. At times, there are no symptoms, and you may not be aware that your potassium levels are elevated until your blood is checked for an unrelated reason.
Causes of Hyperkalemia
The extracellular concentration of potassium is about 1 to 2 percent of the total potassium in your body. An upset in this equilibrium may cause fatal heart arrhythmias, states a 1998 paper in the journal "Seminars in Nephrology." It notes that drugs cause half of the cases of elevated potassium levels, and that three-quarters of hyperkalemic cases have renal failure as predisposing factors. Other causes may include alcoholism, Addison's disease, overuse of potassium supplements, destruction of red blood cells due to burns or trauma or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors -- also referred to as ACE inhibitor drugs.
Conventional Treatment
The goal of treating hyperkalemia is threefold: to move the potassium back into the cells, to increase the excretion of potassium via the urine and to stabilize the heart. In kidney patients, hemodialysis is used. Other methods include drug therapy, such as insulin that encourages the potassium to leave the blood and return to the cells, diuretics that promote potassium excretion through the kidneys and calcium chloride, which helps stabilize the heart's rhythm.
Alternative Therapies
Your doctor may choose alternative therapies, once your condition is stable, or in conjunction with conventional treatment. These methods may include eliminating any foods that may be suspected of causing a potassium allergy, such as dairy, soy, wheat or corn. Other options may be limiting processed foods, foods containing trans fats, or quitting tobacco and alcohol. If you use herbs, avoid nettle, dandelion, horsetail and alfalfa, as they may increase potassium levels.
Member Comments