What Is the Medical Terminology for High Calcium Level?

In medical terminology, hypercalcemia describes the state of having too much calcium in your bloodstream. The condition causes a number of symptoms and has the potential to result in a number of serious health complications if left untreated.

Causes

• An overactive parathyroid gland often results in the excessive levels of calcium that define hypercalcemia. Other possible causes of high calcium levels include lung or breast cancer, medications like lithium, taking too many supplements of vitamin D or calcium, and dehydration.

Symptoms

• Symptoms produced by high calcium levels include constipation, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, frequent thirst and urination, muscle weakness or twitching, depression, irritability, bone pain and spinal curvature, reports the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Diagnosis

• Doctors typically diagnose high calcium levels through routine blood work or urinalysis. For blood tests, the average amount of calcium found in the bloodstream of an adult is 9.0 to 10.5 mg/dL of blood, reports Quest Diagnostics.

Risks

• Without treatment, severe hypercalcemia poses a risk for osteoporosis, kidney stones, kidney failure, confusion, dementia, abnormal heart rhythms, coma or even death, warns the Mayo Clinic.

Treatment

• If a parathyroid condition, cancer or another type of illness is causing high blood calcium, your doctor will focus your treatment on the underlying cause. Other treatments for high calcium levels or hypercalcemia include diuretic medications like furosemide, intravenous bisphosphonate medications like zolendronate, corticosteroid drugs like prednisone, and kidney dialysis.