Potassium is a mineral used by your body to support numerous cellular functions. According to "Potassium Nutrition: In Heart Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Diabetes, and Metabolic Shock," a healthy adult will typically have approximately 120 g of potassium in his body at one time. Hypokalemia is the clinical term for a potassium deficiency in your body. Potassium gluconate is a supplemental form of potassium sometimes recommended by doctors to patients who suffer from a potassium deficiency.
Heart Health
According to "Mosby's 2012 Nursing Drug Reference," potassium gluconate supports several critical cardiovascular and nerve functions. When patients have diuretic therapy for edema and hypertension, doctors will commonly prescribe potassium gluconate to replace the potassium depleted during this process. Supplementation with potassium gluconate can also help to treat hypertension conditions caused by your body's response to too much sodium in your diet.
Fatigue
When you lose fluids from your body through a diuretic, diarrhea, vomiting or dehydration, your body also loses essential minerals, including potassium. The loss of potassium can make you weak and leave you feeling fatigued. In this case, supplementation with potassium gluconate can help to restore muscle contractions and also help to restore normal function of different cells in your body including your heart cells, nerve cells and skeletal muscle cells.
Types of Potassium Supplements
The type of potassium supplement you take can make a difference in how your body absorbs the potassium. Inorganic potassium salts include potassium chloride, carbonate, oxide and sulfate. The organic potassium salts, on the other hand, include potassium gluconate, citrate, and fumarate. The potassium in your body contains organic molecules. Therefore, potassium gluconate is a soluble form of potassium easily absorbed by your body.
Deficiency and Toxicity
Both deficiency and elevation of potassium can cause serious health problems, and in severe cases, it is possible to die from too much or too little potassium in your system. Excess potassium, or hyperkalemia, typically results from kidney problems, gastrointestinal bleeding and the rapid breakdown of proteins in your body. Potassium deficiency is more common than potassium toxicity. Common causes of a potassium deficiency include cardiac arrhythmia, congestive heart failure and hypertension.
References
- "Potassium Nutrition"; Charls Weber MS; 2011
- "Mosby's 2012 Nursing Drug Reference"; Linda Skidmore-Roth RN MSN NP; 2011
- "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine"; Dennis Kasper et al.; 2004
- "Integrative Medicine"; David Rakel; 2002
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