Causes of Potassium Deficiency

Many friends don’t know much about the disease of potassium deficiency. Potassium deficiency is mainly caused by long-term insufficient nutrition from food intake. Moreover, many symptoms of potassium deficiency are due to the fact that some normal foods are not well supplemented. At the same time, there is no correct understanding of potassium in daily life, which leads to the occurrence of potassium deficiency. If potassium deficiency occurs, it must be treated and diagnosed in time, and do not ignore the pressure brought by this disease.

The main manifestations of potassium deficiency are vomiting, diarrhea and long-term use of some drugs such as diuretics. Therefore, the clinical manifestations in daily life are mainly neuromuscular functional disorders, which are mainly accompanied by increased blood concentrations.

It is often caused by long-term fasting or eating less, insufficient potassium salt intake; excessive potassium excretion due to massive vomiting, diarrhea and long-term use of diuretics such as furosemide. The clinical manifestations of the disease are mainly nerve and muscle dysfunction. The more and faster the potassium is lost or the Na+ and Ca+ concentrations increase at the same time, the more obvious the symptoms are. Hypokalemia is often mixed with the symptoms of the primary disease, which can easily delay diagnosis and should be taken seriously. When supplementing potassium intravenously, the urine volume must be above 30 ml/hour. Do not do it too quickly or in excess. Intravenous push is strictly prohibited.

main reason

1. Long-term fasting or insufficient food intake, or insufficient potassium salt supplementation in fluid replacement.

2. Vomiting, continuous gastrointestinal decompression, and small intestinal fistula cause potassium loss through extrarenal pathways.

3. Excessive excretion of potassium from the kidneys. For example, the use of diuretics such as furosemide and uric acid, potassium loss due to renal tubular disease, and excessive mineralocorticoids can cause continued potassium loss even when blood potassium is not high.

4. Metabolic acidosis, treatment with glucose and insulin or cellular water and nutrient intake, can cause potassium to enter the cells from the extracellular fluid.

The above are the reasons for potassium deficiency. I believe many friends have already understood it. The incidence of potassium deficiency in daily life is also relatively common. At the same time, it will cause many complications. Therefore, timely treatment is required in daily life. We must actively treat some primary diseases and restore a normal diet. At the same time, during the period of potassium deficiency, we must pay attention to the intake of some foods high in potassium.