Hyperkalemia, (High Blood Potassium) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Hyperkalemia, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Hyperkalemia is termed high Potassium in the blood.

Normal blood potassium ranges from 3.5 to 5.5 mmol per liter.

Extra-cellular potassium level represents only 2 per cent of the total body potassium.

Potassium has a major presence in the intracellular volume of cells and intracellular osmolarity.

It is an also an important cofactor in many metabolic actions.

The resting membrane potential and excitable tissues such as nerves are mostly determined by ratio of intracellular to extra-cellular potassium concentrations.

Plasma and extra-cellular potassium levels are involved by many factors particularly acid based balance.

Acidosis moves potassium out of cells while alkalosis shifts potassium into cells.

Potassium is an important electrolyte for nerve and muscle cell functioning, particularly for muscle cells in the heart.

The kidneys regulate the body’s potassium levels, allowing for excess potassium to leave the body through urine or sweat.

While potassium is important to the health, receiving too much of the nutrient can be just as bad as, or worse than, not getting sufficient.

Normally, the kidneys maintain a healthy balance of potassium by discharging excess potassium out of the body.

For many reasons, the level of potassium in the blood can become too high.

Whether the patient has mild or severe hyperkalemia, the patient should get prompt medical attention to prevent possible complications.

Hyperkalemia happens with impaired renal function

Causes

Excess potassium in the bloodstream can happen due to diseases of the kidneys or adrenal glands and from certain medicines.

Hyperkalemia can also be the result of potassium moving out of its normal location within cells into the bloodstream.

The majority of potassium within the body is located within cells, with only a small amount located in the bloodstream.

A number of disorders can induce potassium to move out of the cells into the blood circulation, thereby raising the measured level of potassium in the blood, even though the total amount of potassium in the body has not altered.

Diabetic ketoacidosis, an emergency that can form in people with type I diabetes, is a disorder in which potassium is drained out of cells and into the bloodstream.

In the same way, any disorder in which there is massive tissue destruction can cause elevated levels of blood potassium as the injured cells release their potassium.

Certain kinds of trauma can raise the potassium levels as well.

Extra potassium leaks from these body cells into the bloodstream.

Burns or crush injuries where a large number of muscle cells are damaged can produce these effects.

1. Trauma,
2. Burns,
3. Surgical procedures,
4. Destruction of tumor cells or red blood cells, and
5. Rhabdomyolysis (a condition involving the destruction of muscle cells that is sometimes associated with muscle injury, alcoholism, or drug abuse).

The difficulty in drawing blood from veins for testing can traumatize red blood cells, releasing potassium into the serum of the blood sample to produce a falsely elevated reading of hyperkalemia on the blood test.

Kidney failure is the most frequent cause of high potassium.

When the kidneys fail or don’t function properly, they can’t remove extra potassium from the body.

This can lead to potassium buildup.

Any disorder that reduces kidney function can cause hyperkalemia, since the kidneys get rid the excess potassium from the body by excreting it in the urine.

Diagnosis is a elevated blood potassium test and abnormal ECG findings.

The best treatment is hemodialysis.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Hyperkalemia
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treat

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Feb 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463740538

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Hyperkalemia,

(High Blood Potassium)

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2020 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Hyperkalemia, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Hyperkalemia)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

High Potassium

What is Hyperkalemia?

Hyperkalemia is termed high Potassium in the blood.

Normal blood potassium ranges from 3.5 to 5.5 mmol per liter.

Extra-cellular potassium level represents only 2 per cent of the total body potassium.

Potassium has a major presence in the intracellular volume of cells and intracellular osmolarity.

It is an also an important cofactor in many metabolic actions.

The resting membrane potential and excitable tissues such as nerves are mostly determined by ratio of intracellular to extra-cellular potassium concentrations.

Plasma and extra-cellular potassium levels are involved by many factors particularly acid based balance.

Acidosis moves potassium out of cells while alkalosis shifts potassium into cells.

Potassium is an important electrolyte for nerve and muscle cell functioning, particularly for muscle cells in the heart.

The kidneys regulate the body’s potassium levels, allowing for excess potassium to leave the body through urine or sweat.

While potassium is important to the health, receiving too much of the nutrient can be just as bad as, or worse than, not getting sufficient.

Normally, the kidneys maintain a healthy balance of potassium by discharging excess potassium out of the body.

For many reasons, the level of potassium in the blood can become too high.

This is termed hyperkalemia, or high potassium.

A normal range of potassium is between 3.5 and 5.5 millimoles per liter