What is Hyperkalemia? Hyperkalemia is the medical term for when you experience high potassium levels in your blood. In terms of numbers, a healthy individual will have between 3.6mmol/L and 5.2mmol/L in their body. Anything higher than that is officially classified as hyperkalemia. Between 5.3mmol/L and 6.0mmol/L is mild hyperkalemia. Between 6.1mmol/L and 7.0 mmol/L is moderate hyperkalemia. Above 7mmol/L is severe hyperkalemia. Why is Too Much Potassium Harmful? Potassium is healthy for you in the right doses. Your body needs it to function properly. It is an incredibly important substance that plays a vital role in your nerves and muscle cells. This means that you need it for your heart to work. Like with anything else, too much of a good thing is not good. The more common form of hyperkalemia only rears mild to moderate symptoms. The most extreme severities of this condition can result in death. Symptoms of Hyperkalemia Generally, until your hyperkalemia is severe, you may not even experience or recognize any of the symptoms. As your levels soar to dangerous heights, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms: Muscle weakness or pain. Your muscles may feel tender or even painful. It may feel as though you just finished an intense workout. Fatigue. Despite getting adequate sleep, you may feel sluggish and tired the entire day or you may be too weak to function. Nausea. An upset stomach may or may not be accompanied by some vomiting. This is a common sign of hyperkalemia. Breathing problems. You may find it difficult to take deep breaths or find yourself forced to gasp for air. Irregular heartbeat. Your heart may beat funnily or feel weird in your chest. This is always a symptom to bring up to your doctor immediately. Chest pains. Chest pains ranging from mild to severe are a common result of hyperkalemia. In the most extreme cases, hyperkalemia left untreated can cause cardiac arrest and death. What Causes Hyperkalemia? There are several known causes of hyperkalemia, which range from medical disorders to lifestyle habits. Hyperkalemia is known to have many causes. These include: Kidney Disease The main function of a kidney is that it filters everything in your body. When there is something wrong with your kidneys, it can mess up all sorts of vitamin levels in your body. Potassium is just one of them. Heart Disease Heart disease results in a variety of factors that make it more likely to have problems with your potassium levels. Hormone Imbalances Having abnormally low amounts of aldosterone can result in potassium problems. This can happen due to a variety of conditions, including hypoaldosteronism and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Diabetes A lack of insulin may be the culprit behind enhanced potassium levels. This is something that would be more likely to occur if diabetes is undermanaged (or undiagnosed). [youmaylike] Medications Side effects of certain medications could cause potassium levels to rise. You may be surprised to see that some common medications will do this. Non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen, will do it. Some of the other medications that can do this are heparin, mannitol, beta-blockers, angiotensin inhibitors, calcium blockers, and cyclosporine. Diet Medications are not the only way to introduce potassium to the body. There are lots of foods that can lead to heightened potassium levels. Many of these foods are healthy, but to a person at risk for hyperkalemia, they can be dangerous if not eaten in responsible quantities. There is also the chance that you are a victim of pseudo hyperkalemia. As the name suggests, you do not have any potassium problems. Sometimes due to faulty equipment, you will get a wrong reading. Hyperkalemia Treatment To determine how to treat hyperkalemia, it is important that you first identify the cause of it in yourself. Getting advice from a licensed medical physician is the best way to determine your treatments. Diet Change Changing your diet can do wonders for your health. If you battle hyperkalemia, consider limiting your intake of foods rich in potassium like cucumbers, pumpkins, potatoes, bananas, grapefruit, oranges, eggplants and peas. Intravenous Calcium or Insulin and Glucose Medical injections are an efficient and fast technique to lower calcium levels. When diet alone is not enough, these can drop your potassium levels to a safer place in a pinch. Albuterol Doctors may also administer albuterol alone or in addition to other treatments. Unfortunately, this does not work for everyone. Changing Medications If a certain medication is causing dangerous, unwanted side effects, you may want to talk to your doctor about switching.
PAH Disease
Hypertension is a common illness in adulthood. Many people have it, but what many people do not usually know is that there are many kinds of hypertension. Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH disease) is one such example. Have you heard about it before? PAH disease is important to know about because if it is not detected early and treated promptly, it can worsen through the years and be life-threatening. This article will discuss what pulmonary artery hypertension is, its causes, symptoms and treatment.
What is PAH Disease?
The pulmonary artery is responsible for carrying deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs. Once in the lungs, the blood is oxygenated before returning to the heart through the pulmonary vein. Pulmonary artery hypertension occurs when the pulmonary artery is narrowed or thickened. This causes an increase in the pressure in the lungs, causing your heart to work extra hard to be able to continually pump blood throughout the body. If the pressure is consistently high for a long period of time, the heart muscle will compensate initially, but then eventually will deteriorate, leading to heart failure and death.
Pulmonary artery hypertension usually occurs in women aged 30 to 60. It is not as common as other illnesses, with around 500 to 1,000 cases of pulmonary artery hypertension being diagnosed in the U.S. yearly.
What Causes PAH?
Stress and pressure in the arteries have many causes. Hypertension is a multifactorial disease, there is no single entity that causes it. Mostly the cause is idiopathic, or unknown, but there are certain risk factors that can increase one’s chances of having pulmonary artery hypertension.
It’s been found that genetics have a role in the occurrence of the disease. PAH is inherited in around 15% to 20% of cases. In other cases, a specific cause can be identified. Conditions that cause a strain in your blood pressure include:
- Congestive heart failure.
- Congenital heart diseases (such as heart valve disorders).
- Blood clots in the lungs.
- Emphysema.
- Chronic bronchitis.
- Pulmonary fibrosis.
Other illnesses such as autoimmune conditions (lupus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis) can also have pulmonary artery hypertension as a complication. Infections such as HIV can cause inflammation in the arteries leading to narrowing and constriction of the blood vessels. Drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine can also cause this.
What Are the Symptoms of PAH?
The signs and symptoms of PAH disease can be long-standing. They may be undetected for months or years and only appear when the condition worsens as the disease progresses. This is because initially, the heart compensates to try to keep blood from continuously flowing. During this time the affected person does not feel anything or may feel something but will not seek to consult immediately. As the condition progresses, the pressure eventually becomes too high to a point where the heart will not be able to function properly and will give out. This is the time that signs and symptoms are usually evident and sometimes it is detected too late.
Early signs and symptoms suggesting pulmonary artery hypertension include:
- Shortness of breath that initially occurs upon strenuous activity such as exercise. This eventually worsens to shortness of breath and difficulty of breathing even when at rest.
- Fatigue or dizziness.
- Chest pain.
Late signs and symptoms include the following:
- Fainting.
- Swelling (medically termed edema) can be seen in the legs and abdomen, which is suggestive of heart failure.
- The severe difficulty of breathing with bluish discoloration (cyanosis) of the lips, nail beds, or skin.
Diet and Lifestyle Changes
In addition to medications, there are other nonmedical strategies that can be done to prevent and prolong the worsening of this condition. These include:
Monitor Your Blood Pressure
Constant monitoring of your blood pressure and pulse. It is important to have normal blood pressure and pulse because abnormal values may indicate stress and strain on the heart.
Incorporate an Exercise Routine
Regular exercise and maintaining a body weight that is within the normal range. This is important because a sedentary lifestyle is not helpful for the heart. Furthermore, any excess weight can add an extra burden to the heart, so it is important to keep within the normal range. This can be done by eating healthy and exercising regularly.
Avoid Smoking and Alcohol
Having a healthy lifestyle without vices. Smoking and alcohol are well-known to contribute to hypertension. Because the cause of any form of hypertension is multifactorial by nature, it is important to avoid these substances as they can increase your chances of having the condition. Further, it can worsen the condition and hasten the appearance of complications.
Medical Treatment
There is no cure for pulmonary artery hypertension, and affected people deal with it throughout the remainder of their life. Pulmonary artery hypertension, especially when presenting with symptoms, is treated medically. It is hard to manage this condition without giving any form of medication. The goal of medication is to lessen the pressure in the blood vessels of the heart and lungs to avoid any stress or strain on the heart. The medications are able to manage the symptoms and allow affected people to have an improved quality of life.
There are a lot of medications that can be prescribed, all acting on different receptors and having different effects. Some medications relax the blood vessels directly, which addresses the problem of the narrowing of blood vessels. Other medications decrease the swelling or edema so that the heart will not be overloaded with fluids. Other medications are anticoagulants which prevent blood clots. If the condition is found to be too severe to be treated with medications, transplant surgery is advised.
In Conclusion
Even if it is not as common, it is important to know what pulmonary artery hypertension is. Because it is a progressive disorder, it is sometimes detected too late. By knowing about it and spreading information, more cases can be detected, earlier avoiding irreversible complications.