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The reason is that there is a lot of overlap of patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease. When your kidneys don't filter as well, one of things tha
by Herodotus38 8y ago
The reason is that there is a lot of overlap of patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease. When your kidneys don't filter as well, one of things that your body holds onto is potassium. High potassium levels (among other things) cause cardiac conduction issues and arrhythmias which can be fatal if not intervened on. I. The general population we have to be careful that we don't trade one problem for another.
- wool_gather 8y agoOn the other hand, _low_ potassium can also cause heart problems. You just can't win!
- Herodotus38 8y agoThat's true as well, fortunately(?) it's much harder to get to cardiac issues with hypokalemia than hyperkalemia (most commonly I see it in anorexics). Most causes of low potassium are side effects of medications, or short term losses from diarrhea or vomiting. There are some people with genetic causes of excess urinary potassium losses but it's pretty uncommon.