High potassium level
What is a High Potassium Level in the Blood: 98% of the potassium content of the body is within the cells. However, what little of it is not is generally in the blood, and this is the blood potassium level. Small changes to this blood potassium level can trigger various problems due to the fact that potassium affects multiple things including blood pressure, muscle movement and the heart. A high potassium level generally means that there is a larger than normal quantity of potassium in the blood. While this may not initially seem like a bad thing, the fact is that potassium must be constantly kept in a balance and so a high potassium level in the blood can cause much the same type of problems that a low potassium level in the blood could, and can even be potentially life threatening. However, a low potassium level is more common than a high potassium level, simply due to the fact that the causes of a low potassium level are more common.
What Causes This High Potassium Level: A high potassium level in the blood can be an indication of two things. The first is an overall generally higher potassium level in both cells and blood. This is normally a kidney related problem, due to the role that the kidney plays in regulating the potassium levels. The kidney normally would excrete any excess potassium via urine, and so if its function is impaired in any manner, this would result in a general increase in the potassium content of the body. The hormone behind this excretion is aldosterone. Any disorder that affects aldosterone production thus would also affect the potassium level. One such disorder is Addison's disease. The second probable cause of high potassium level in the blood is an increase in the cell release of potassium. Potassium moves in and out of the cells all the time, however if anything caused an increase in potassium movement out of the cells, it would reflect as a high potassium level in the blood. This is normally caused by tissue trauma that triggers a release of potassium from the cells, however tissue trauma alone rarely causes an overly high potassium level of the blood.
What A Symptom of a High Potassium Level Would Look Like: A high potassium level generally causes Hyperkalemia. This condition can be asymptomatic and thus may only show signs when a patients condition is critical. One of the common pre-emergency signs is nausea. However this symptom of a high potassium level is pretty common to a variety of diseases and may be overlooked. However when the nausea is coupled with any other symptom of hyperkalemia it could be cause for worry. Other symptoms include irregular heartbeat, and a slowed pulse.
How A High Potassium Level in the Blood Could be Treated: The treatment of a high potassium level is generally dependent on the cause behind it. Sometimes things like diuretics, intravenous calcium or cation-exchange resins are given to protect the body from the effects of a high potassium level. However most long term treatment involves a treatment of the cause or disorder that is behind the high potassium level, and this varies greatly depending on what that may be.
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