Potassium is an essential mineral that plays a role in muscle contractions. The different types of contractions range from voluntary, such as with skeletal muscles, to involuntary, such as with cardiac muscles in the heart. Potassium helps conduct electrical impulses that allow the muscles and nervous system to facilitate communication and govern movements. Too much potassium can disrupt the electrical impulses in the heart but is unlikely to cause any lasting damage.
Excess Potassium
Hyperkalemia --- meaning an elevated concentration of potassium within the blood --- typically occurs when potassium intake exceeds the ability of your kidneys to clear it. Renal disorders or medications that interfere with urinary elimination are often to blame. However, potassium intake surpassing 18 g per day, even in people with normal kidney function, can also cause severe hyperkalemia.
Heart Rhythm
Cardiac arrhythmia, or an irregular heart rhythm, is the most serious condition that can develop from a moderate to severe case of hyperkalemia. The main cause of an irregular rhythm is abnormal electrical activity in the heart. This is more of a mechanical issue related to the misfiring of electrical impulses and an imbalance of potassium. In its most dangerous manifestation, it can lead to complete cardiac arrest, in which the heart fails to pump blood.
Heart Damage
A distinction must be made between abnormalities in the electrical system of the heart and an actual heart attack, which is related to a blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries. In the absence of structural heart disease, the prognosis for an abnormal heart rhythm is excellent, with no long-term side effects. The electrical impulses of the heart will simply return to normal without incurring much damage at all. A heart attack, on the other hand, prevents the heart from receiving enough oxygen-rich blood, which can eventually lead to heart damage. In the event that an abnormal rhythm does progress to outright cardiac arrest, however, the prognosis is usually fatal. According to the Heart Rhythm Foundation, an estimated 95 percent of cardiac arrest victims die before they even reach the hospital or other source of emergency help.
Diagnosis
With a quick diagnosis, your doctor is more likely to successfully treat any fluctuations in heart rhythm resulting from hyperkalemia. A simple EKG can diagnose the abnormal heart function, but tracing the problem back to hyperkalemia can be quite difficult without a blood test. A proper diagnosis may hinge on the recognition of other clinical risk factors for hyperkalemia such as renal dysfunctions and the intake of medications that are known for increasing blood potassium concentrations.
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