Hypokalemia

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Hypokalemia
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What is hypokalemia?

• Hypokalemia refers that the amount of potassium
  in your blood is lower than normal. Potassium is
  one of the most important minerals present in
  your body. For example, a very low blood level of
  potassium can lead to serious and even fatal
  heart rhythm problems.You can have potassium
  from various different food items. Normally, your
  body keeps only as much potassium as it needs and
  gets rid of the rest.

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What is the cause of hypokalemia?

• There are many ways by which hypokalemia can
  happen. Often it happens because your body is
  losing more liquid than normal. You may lose more
  fluid
• If you had a lot of vomiting or diarrhea.
• If you are taking medicine that makes the body to
  release too much potassium. For example, some
  diuretics help the body get rid of fluid by
  causing you to urinate more. You may lose more
  potassium in the urine.
• Hormone problems are another cause of low
  potassium. For example
• There are chances that you may have too much
  aldosterone, which is a hormone that controls how
  much potassium is in your body.
• You may have too much cortisol. This may happen
  because the body is making too much. Or it may
  happen if you are taking cortisol medicine
  (called steroids or corticosteroids).

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What is the cause of hypokalemia?
Continue

• Other possible causes of low potassium are
• You are not getting perfect amount of potassium
  from your diet or from potassium supplements
  prescribed by your doctor.
• You have been sweating a lot during exercise.
• You have kidney disease that causes you to get
  rid of too much potassium.
• You have an eating disorder, such as bulimia.

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How is hypokalemia diagnosed?

• Low potassium is diagnosed with a blood test. 
• The normal potassium range for adults in most
  labs is 3.5 to 5.5 milliequivalents (mEq) per
  liter. This range may vary slightly from lab to
  lab.
• Less than 3.5 mEq/L is considered hypokalemia.
• Less than 2.5 mEq/L is considered severe
  hypokalemia.
• If you are having one of the more uncommon
  reasons for having low potassium, you will need
  more tests, like
• Other blood tests
• Urine tests
• Specific X-rays or scans of your kidneys and
  pituitary gland

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What are the symptoms of hypokalemia?

• Generally, it does not cause any symptoms when
  hypokalemia is mild. When hypokalemia is severe
  and does cause symptoms, the most common one is
  tiredness, especially of the muscles. The muscles
  may feel weak and they may tend to cramp. If
  your potassium gets too low, it can also affect
  the heart muscle and the hearts rhythm. Your
  heartbeat may become fast or irregular if you are
  suffering from hypokalemia. 

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How is hypokalemia treated?

• For the common causes of low potassium, like
  stomach flu or heavy exercise, you can usually
  replace lost potassium by eating foods rich in
  potassium or by drinking sports drinks.If you
  are taking a diuretic medicine that makes you
  lose potassium, you may need to eat foods that
  have a lot of potassium every day, or you may
  need to take potassium tablets every day.You
  can ask your doctor if a diuretic that helps you
  keep your potassium would work for you. You may
  have blood tests on a regular basis to check your
  potassium level.If your hypokalemia is major,
  you need treatment right away that may involve
  getting potassium by IV (by vein) so you can
  raise your level of potassium quickly to prevent
  heart complications. The underlying problem
  will need to be treated if low potassium is
  caused by an underlying medical problem, like too
  much aldosterone or cortisol.

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