What is hypokalemia?
Low potassium (hypokalemia) refers to a lower than normal potassium level in your bloodstream.
What is the role of potassium?
Potassium helps carry electrical signals to cells in your body. It is critical to the proper functioning of nerve and muscles cells, particularly heart muscle cells.
A very low potassium level can be life-threatening and requires urgent medical attention.
Causes
Low potassium (hypokalemia) has many causes.
The most common cause is excessive potassium loss in urine due to prescription medications that increase urination.Vomiting, diarrhea or both also can result in excessive potassium loss from the digestive tract. Occasionally, low potassium is caused by not getting enough potassium in your diet.
Causes of potassium loss include:
- Excessive alcohol use
- Chronic kidney disease
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Excessive sweating
- Folic acid deficiency
- Primary aldosteronism
- Some antibiotic use
- Excessive laxative use
When to see a doctor
In most cases, low potassium is found by a blood test that is done because of an illness, or because you are taking diuretics. It is rare for low potassium to cause isolated symptoms such as muscle cramps if you are feeling well in other respects.
Low potassium symptoms may include:
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Muscle cramps
- Constipation
Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) are the most worrisome complication of very low potassium levels, particularly in people with underlying heart disease.
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/low-potassium/basics/definition/sym-20050632
