Muscle Paralysis and Kidney Disease

Metabolic disorders of protein, fat, sugar, water, electrolytes and acid-base especially electrolyte and water imbalances as well as metabolic acidosis are very common among kidney disease patients.

With the continuous deterioration of illness conditions and the gradual loss of more kidney functions, more symptoms and complications will appear and they will become more and more serious or even threaten the patient’s life without timely and proper treatment and measurements.

The above mentioned disorders and imbalances in the internal body can cause a series of symptoms and discomforts to the patients. For example, potassium disorder can cause muscle paralysis or even sudden stop of heart beat.

Potassium disorder is very common among kidney disease patients because kidney is the major organ to regulate the levels of potassium and other electrolytes. In most cases, the patients have high serum potassium problem because of the declined excretory ability of the kidneys. Even though, low potassium cases have been reported and it is most possibly that you have a low potassium concentration in the blood if you are suffering from muscle paralysis.

Low blood potassium can be caused by inadequate intake of potassium through diets, too much loss due to over use of certain diuretics, nausea, vomiting, etc. It is called low blood potassium when it is lower than 3.5. It can affect the patient’s cardiovascular system, central-nervous system, digestive system, urological system and the muscles and when it is lower than 2.5, patients can develop very serious symptoms. If this occur suddenly, the illness conditions can be very critical or it can even cause sudden death.

Therefore it is very important to seek timely examinations and proper treatment in case of muscle paralysis because it can be an early sign of low blood potassium. Based on the exact causes and seek proper treatment can help control the illness conditions and help patients avoid more serious consequences.