Alcoholism, a physical dependence on alcohol, is a condition associated with numerous problems with mental health, social interaction, relationships and day-to-day responsibilities. Despite these repercussions, those with alcoholism continue to drink. The condition also causes adverse physical health effects, such as liver disease, heart damage and pancreatitis. Another potentially lethal outcome of alcoholism is rhabdomyolysis, a physiological process resulting in excessively high serum potassium levels.
Rhabdomyolysis
When damage to your skeletal muscles occurs, the damaged muscle fibers release a substance called myoglobin into your bloodstream. Risk factors for rhabdomyolysis include any circumstance during which muscle damage occurs, such as seizures, heatstroke, trauma and crush injuries, as well as excessive use of alcohol, amphetamines, heroin and cocaine.
Rhabdomyolysis and Your Kidneys
As myoglobin breaks down, it converts to harmful byproducts that, under normal circumstances, your kidneys filter out of your blood so you can eliminate them through your urine. However, the substance myoglobin and its byproducts tend to block the important structures of your kidneys to the point of impairment or even failure. Because your kidneys are responsible for filtering excess potassium from your blood, kidney damage leads to a potentially lethal electrolyte imbalance called hyperkalemia, or high serum potassium.
Hyperkalemia
Health care professionals diagnose hyperkalemia when your serum potassium level rises above 4.8 mEq/L. A normal potassium level is between 3.6 to 4.8 mEq/L. Levels above this may cause symptoms such as fatigue, muscle weakness, nausea, a disruption in your heart's rate and rhythm, and paralysis. Levels above 6 mEq/L require emergency intervention to prevent a life-threatening progression of hyperkalemia.
Treatment
Because your prognosis directly correlates to the extent of kidney damage caused by alcohol-induced rhabdomyolysis, timely intervention to prevent extensive kidney damage is key. Doctors treat rhabdomyolysis -- and resulting hyperkalemia -- with aggressive fluid replacement using intravenous preparations. The goal of this treatment is to flush damaging myoglobin from your kidneys. If your condition warrants it, your doctor may also prescribe a kidney dialysis regimen.
