What Does Low Potassium Mean?
Potassium is an essential mineral for the body and needed for cell, nerve, and muscle function. Low potassium means there is an insufficient amount of it present in the body for those functions to occur the way they should. Low potassium is also known as hypokalemia, and it is usually not a dangerous condition. But severely low levels may have negative effects on the nervous and digestive systems, and people experiencing those effects will typically have been unaware of their long-term potassium deficiency .
What Causes Low Potassium?
Low potassium is almost always the result of either diet, medical conditions, or medication use.Dietary causes will be related to not eating enough of foods that are rich in potassium. Medical conditions that can cause low potassium include hyperaldosteronism, osmotic diuresis, chronic kidney disease, mineralocorticoid excess, Cushing’s disease, thyrotoxicosis, renal tubular acidosis, or eating disorders like Bulimia.
Among the medications that can cause low potassium are insulin, antimicrobials like penicillin and gentamicin, Beta2-receptor agonists like epinephrine, diuretics and thiazides like Diamox and Zaroxolyn, and mineralocorticoid / glucocorticoid medications like fludrocortisone and prednisone. People using diuretics for treatment of pulmonary edema, congestive heart failure, and high blood pressure is the most common diagnosis case for low blood potassium levels.
Low Potassium Symptoms
Low potassium symptoms are usually only seen in severe deficiency cases, but in these cases what people will have as symptoms are constipation, fatigue, muscle damage, muscle cramping or spasms, heart palpitations, or tingling or numbness in body extremities.
People with poor heart health – including cardia ischemia - are more at risk of low potassium levels causing a cardiac arrythmia.
Low Potassium Treatment
Taking oral potassium supplements is the standard approach for low potassium treatment. This may in the form of potassium chloride (K-Dur), potassium phosphate, or potassium carbonate, and the person’s doctor may recommend one over another based on other mineral balances seen in the blood following tests. For severe cases of low potassium an IV may be required and this will be administered under medical supervision.
A doctor may also recommend an increased intake of certain foods in a person’s diet to treat low potassium. These foods may include potatoes, lima beans, spinach, bananas, avocado, and pomegranate juice, among others.
