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Hyperkalemia
Make it clearer
Hyperkalemia, spelled hyperkalaemia in British English, means having a potassium level, measured in serum or plasma, above the normal range. Potassium lives mostly inside the cells, not outside them.
What keeps it there is the sodium-potassium ATPase pump. It works much like a pump that lifts water to a rooftop tank, except that what it holds in place is potassium inside the cell. Blood potassium rises in one of three ways: more of it enters the body, it moves out of the cells, or the kidneys excrete less of it.
A mild rise often goes unnoticed. A severe one can trigger arrhythmias, disturbances of the heart rhythm that can be life-threatening, as well as muscle weakness or paralysis. And here is the key point: how fast the potassium level changes matters more than the number itself.
In brief
Hyperkalemia is a serum or plasma potassium concentration above the upper limit of normal.
Potassium is mostly intracellular, kept there by the sodium-potassium ATPase pump; serum levels rise with increased intake, a shift out of cells or reduced renal excretion.
Like a water pump, it keeps potassium inside the cell.
A mild rise often causes no symptoms; a severe one can trigger life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, muscle weakness or paralysis. Symptoms can depend more on how quickly potassium levels rise than on how high they are.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingHyperkalemia, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated