Potassium Chloride as Source of Potassium

Potassium chloride is an ionic compound with the chemical formula KCl. Since potassium is an essential nutrient for plants and animals, potassium chloride finds common use in fertilizers and also in drugs designed to treat potassium deficiency or hypokalemia. Potassium chloride is also one of three drugs often used in lethal injection procedures in the United States.

Properties

• At room temperature, potassium chloride is a white crystalline solid. Its melting point is 770 degrees Celsius. It dissolves well in water and occurs in nature in the form of a mineral called sylvite. The FDA considers potassium chloride to be generally recognized as safe in its capacity as a food additive.

Potassium in the Human Body

• Potassium has an irreplaceable role in the human body. It's the most important cation (positively charged ion) inside cells, so it's vital in maintaining a fluid and electrolyte balance. Potassium is also key to the proper functioning of neurons (nerve cells) and proper muscle contraction.

Hypokalemia

• Hypokalemia or potassium deficiency is a serious, but uncommon disorder that occurs when potassium levels in the body drop to extremely low levels. It can be caused by treatment with certain antibiotics or diuretics, prolonged diarrhea, rare disorders of the kidneys or adrenal glands, and eating disorders like bulimia.

Potassium Chloride Supplements

• Doctors will often prescribe potassium chloride supplements to treat hypokalemia. There is some evidence to suggest that adjusting the diet to include more potassium-rich foods like bananas may be equally effective. A study of 38 heart surgery patients at University of Washington Medical Center in 2004, for example, found that blood levels of potassium in hypokalemic patients who took potassium chloride were no different from levels in patients who adjusted their diet, although the study had several limitations. While potassium chloride is a good source of potassium, you should only take it as prescribed by your physician. Foods like bran, bananas, brussels sprouts and granola, among others, are all excellent dietary sources of potassium. In general, if you are healthy and your diet includes sufficient potassium, no supplementation should be necessary.

Hyperkalemia

• If a patient is suffering from severe hypokalemia as a result of another disorder, doctors may sometimes administer potassium chloride via IV to restore potassium levels. This procedure carries certain risks, however, not least among them the possibility of rebound hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia is a condition where potassium levels in the blood rise far too high. If it exceeds certain levels, a surplus of potassium in the bloodstream can cause an irregular heartbeat or even cardiac arrest. A paper published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine in February 2010, for example, reported a case where, following administration of potassium chloride to correct hypokalemic paralysis, a patient developed rebound hyperkalemia and died. Potassium chloride is actually used in lethal injection procedures in the United States because injecting a sufficiently large, concentrated dose of potassium chloride directly into the bloodstream can cause heart failure and death.