What Are the Causes of Low Potassium?

Hypokalemia is a state in which the level of potassium in the blood drops low. This can be problematic since potassium actually works as an electrolyte, so, when the level drops, the body experiences an imbalance that can affect a person's heart, skeletal muscles and other organs in the body. For most people, low potassium isn't much of a problem, but there are certain factors that can cause the level of potassium to become dangerous.

Diuretics and Laxatives

• Some of the main culprits that cause a person's potassium level to drop are both diuretics and laxatives. The reason for this is that these types of products escalate the amount of urine and stool produced. When someone "chemically" increases the production of urine and stool, one of the by-products in this evacuation will be the excretion of water. With this excretion of water, an individual loses sodium, glucose and potassium. Normally, it isn't enough to do any damage, but prolonged use of these products can cause potassium levels to drop extremely low, since the body isn't given enough time to restore the natural balance.

Diarrhea and Vomiting

• Other common causes of low potassium include diarrhea and vomiting. For the majority of people, diarrhea and vomiting don't pose much of a threat. This is because most bouts of these conditions don't last long. However, much like diuretics and laxatives, prolonged episodes of either diarrhea or vomiting, as would be seen in certain illnesses or diseases, can cause a person to dehydrate through a loss of water. The longer a person has diarrhea, the more water is emitted. The more water emitted, the more potassium is lost.

Exercise

• It is also completely possible to suffer from low potassium after fairly rigorous periods of exercise, mainly during prolonged training sessions, marathons and other sports that would prompt someone to sweat excessively. Just like in urine, stool and vomit, potassium is secreted within a person's sweat. When not properly replenished, it can cause someone to experience a drop in potassium.

Eating Disorders

• There is also the potential for a person to experience low potassium when he suffers from an eating disorder, especially in cases of bulimia. Again, this has a lot to do with the emission of water. When someone uses laxatives or purging to lose weight, he is ridding his body of not just food, but water. As mentioned before, the more water that is evacuated from the body, the more potassium is lost. This same thing can happen from starvation, but the process would be slightly different, as the body itself is getting out of balance.

Kidneys

• For some people, a condition that affects the health and function of the kidneys, like diabetes, hypertension or kidney disease, can greatly lower the amount of potassium in the blood. One of the main functions of the kidneys is to act as a sort of filter for the body, but certain conditions can cause the kidneys to go into "hyper-drive," eliminating toxins and waste from the blood. When these toxins and waste are expelled, potassium is lost as well.

Treatment

• No matter what has caused a person's potassium to drop so low, treatment is actually simple. More often than not, a person need only take a supplement, add to a diet (bananas, cantaloupe, avocado, cabbage, spinach, tuna, Lima beans and papaya, to name a few) or replace through fluid (electrolyte drinks) to bring potassium back up. Of course, some people may need to be hospitalized if potassium gets too low. In this case, an IV would be used to increase the potassium in the blood.