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I happen to do a blood check and the physican told me that my potassium level in the body in little high... therefore I had to redo the test today to make sure... if I have high potassium, what does that mean? what can I do? What medicine can take to lower? is it harmful? any help? any suggestion?
There are two general reasons for an average person to have a higher than normal potassium value.
1. They're in kidney failure; the doctor would look more at your serum creatinine value rather than serum potassium.
2. A hemolyzed specimen; red blood cells were inadvertently ruptured during the collection process, spilling extra potassium into the specimen that is normally hidden inside the red blood cell.
Your doctor suspects choice #2 (the most common reason), hence he's ordering the test to be done over.
Ralph
he potassium level should be between 3.5 to 5 .2 m mol if its on higher they it is called too much potassium mostly in kidney failure patients a and people taking ace inhibiotr medince for bp.
HMG
hi,thanks for query.Normally kidneys take care to maintain proper balance of electrolytes in our body and that is regulated by a auto mechanism inside our body.When ever there is high potassium,they tend to loose more and when ever the level is low,they retain more.You just need to have repeat the test to see,whether it is some reporting error or really you have some problem.
wishing you good health.
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What Does Too Much Potassium In The Body Mean ?
There are two general reasons for an average person to have a higher than normal potassium value. 1. They re in kidney failure; the doctor would look more at your serum creatinine value rather than serum potassium. 2. A hemolyzed specimen; red blood cells were inadvertently ruptured during the collection process, spilling extra potassium into the specimen that is normally hidden inside the red blood cell. Your doctor suspects choice #2 (the most common reason), hence he s ordering the test to be done over. Ralph