Can hypokalemia kill people? The hazards of hypokalemia

Many people do not care about hypokalemia and think it is not serious. Many people are also worried that hypokalemia will kill people. In fact, mild hypokalemia will not kill people as long as you pay attention to potassium supplementation. Severe hypokalemia can also be fatal.

1. Severe cases can lead to death

The main cause of death from hypokalemia is that hypokalemia generally increases myocardial excitability, which may cause palpitations and arrhythmias. In severe cases, atrioventricular block, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation may occur, and finally the heart stops beating in a contraction state. However, if hypokalemia is not very serious and medical treatment is sought promptly, this situation will not occur.

2. Arrhythmia occurs

It is related to abnormalities in the excitability of autonomous cardiac cells and the conductivity of conduction tissues, and is mainly manifested by decreased excitability of the sinoatrial node, slowed conduction in the atrioventricular junction, and increased excitability of ectopic rhythmic cells. Therefore, a variety of arrhythmias may occur, including sinus bradycardia, atrial or ventricular premature beats, supraventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular conduction block, and even ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. In addition, digitalis poisoning is also prone to occur.

3. Skeletal muscle weakness and paralysis

Muscle weakness usually starts from the lower limbs, especially the quadriceps, and manifests as difficulty walking and unstable standing; as hypokalemia worsens, muscle weakness worsens and affects the trunk and upper limb muscles until it affects the respiratory muscles and respiratory failure occurs. Generally, muscle weakness may occur when the serum potassium concentration is lower than 3 mmol/L, and paralysis may occur when it is lower than 2.5 mmol/L, and respiratory failure is also likely to occur. In patients with impaired lung function, hypokalemia leading to respiratory failure or worsening of respiratory failure is more common, but it is easy to be overlooked clinically.