Potassium is a type of mineral and electrolyte in the body that is maintained by dietary intake. Potassium is important for heart function, muscle contractions and digestion. An infant's body keeps a steady amount of potassium in the bloodstream...
A crucial electrolyte, potassium levels are normally kept within a narrow range, according to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine." This mineral is the major cation inside the cells responsible for the relaxation phase of muscle...
Potassium plays an extremely important role in the electrophysiology of your body's cells. According to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," potassium or K+ is the major positively charged ion in the cells. In fact, approximately 98...
To keep your body healthy and functioning properly, you need to monitor your mineral levels. Minerals essential to your health and wellness include sodium and potassium. Monitoring these mineral levels begins with you learning the normal ranges...
Low potassium levels could well be the cause of those leg cramps. Potassium is a mineral found in our bodies. Working alone or with other minerals and electrolytes, it performs many vital functions. Potassium is found in high amounts within our...
Potassium tests are simple blood tests that are often done as part of an electrolyte level test, but your doctor may order one if you have kidney, heart or other health issues. Though potassium tests aren't painful or complicated, they can reveal...
Potassium is a mineral important for the healthy function of all your cells. It acts as an electrolyte -- a substance that conducts electricity in your body. Potassium is the main positively charged particle within your tissues and is needed for...
One of the daily functions of the body's cells is maintaining the right amount of water and electrolytes. Maintaining the right amount of electrolytes involves balancing the ones that have a negative charge with those that have a positive charge....
A myocardial infarction, or heart attack, occurs when the blood flow to a portion of the heart is blocked. This blockage causes that section of the heart to be permanently damaged. A myocardial infarction usually occurs when one of the coronary...
The human body requires the mineral potassium for cells to function properly. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults intake 4,700 mg per day. Although most people do get...
Potassium is an important mineral known as an electrolyte. Electrolytes carry an electrical charge. Potassium is essential for the electrical activity of your heart, growth of muscles, proper nerve function and helps metabolize carbohydrates. A...
Sodium and potassium are electrolytes, or minerals with an electric charge. The cells in the body have to keep a balance between the number of electrolytes with a negative charge and the number of electrolytes with a positive charge within the...
Potassium is an essential ion found within the cells of the body. The delicate balance between potassium outside the cell, known as the extracellular fluid K+ and the potassium inside the cell, called the intracellular fluid K+ helps maintain the...
The balance of electrolytes in the body is maintained by a function called homeostasis. Homeostasis is the body's ability to adjust and maintain normal functioning despite constant changes in blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, electrolytes,...
Potassium is a mineral essential to metabolic function and the health of all organs, tissues and cells. Normal levels of blood potassium depend on age, and pregnant or lactating women require moderately higher amounts in the bloodstream. Potassium...
Potassium belongs to the class of nutrients called minerals. According to "Nutrition and You," approximately 95 percent of the potassium in your body is found inside of the cells and the remaining 5 percent is located outside your cells and in the...
Because potassium is so linked to your health and well-being, tests for potassium appear in most routine blood work. Potassium is listed on your laboratory report as the symbol "K," which comes from the Latin name, kalium. Making sense of these...
Potassium plays an important role in muscle contraction and relaxation, helps maintain fluid balance and is vital to the proper functioning of your heart. Your blood potassium level is normally between 3.6 to 4.8 mEq/L. The amount of potassium in...
Potassium is an electrolyte that helps conduct electricity in you body. It is essential for proper heart, muscle and nerve function, as well as for turning the food you eat into energy. Some enzymes also require potassium to function. Levels of...
Potassium is a major electrolyte used by the body. Although potassium is abundantly available in foods and regulated by the body, certain health conditions and medications can cause abnormal potassium levels. These can lead to severe or even...
Potassium is an electrolyte, which means that it has a positive electrical charge. This charge of potassium allows it to work with other electrolytes to control muscle contraction and maintain acid-base balance. Approximately 98 percent of the...
Potassium is an electrolyte in the body that helps to facilitate muscle and nerve function. Your body relies on the proper balance of potassium and sodium to perform these and other functions. If your potassium levels become too high, you can...
Potassium is available in a variety of forms such as potassium chloride, potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, potassium gluconate and potassium acetate. There are different forms because potassium is available as capsules, tablets,...
Potassium is a mineral and electrolyte that works with other electrolytes to control muscle contraction, maintain acid-base balance and control fluid balance. Approximately 98 percent of the potassium in your body is found inside of your cells....
Digoxin, or lanoxin, is a cardiac glycoside used to treat congestive heart failure and an abnormal heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation, according to the Drugs website. Patients on Digoxin have to maintain normal serum potassium, magnesium...
Blood pressure measures the level of force blood makes on your blood vessel walls and is measured during contracting and relaxation of the heart. Normal blood pressure is less than 140/90 mm/Hg. Having high blood pressure places you at risk for...
Patients who take certain medications may be at risk of developing hyperkalemia, a condition of high potassium in the blood. Although rare, excessive amounts of potassium in the bloodstream can lead to heart complications and sudden death....
Primarily used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension), lisinopril sold under the brand names of Prinivil or Zestril has also proven effective in improving the survival chances of post-heart attack patients, within 24 hours of occurrence,...
