Electrolyte Imbalance Medicine Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

Electrolyte Imbalance
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Abstract
Hyperkalemia and hypokalemia are usually caused by excess and too little potassium in the body respectively as a result of the alterations in excretions in body fluids, transcellular shifts, and also due to changes in potassium intake. The characteristics of hyperkalemia include fatigue, chest pains, and vomiting among others, while that of hypokalemia include irregular heartbeats, abdominal cramping, and fainting among others. Hyperkalemia disorder affects the cardiovascular system, slow, and irregular heart rate while hypokalemia leads to the faster heartbeat.
Electrolyte Imbalance
The electrolytes are the vital minerals in the body that are necessary for the body-fluid balance and muscles and nerve functioning. They always exist in the form of potassium, calcium, magnesium and chlorine among others. The causes of electrolyte imbalances are due to the deficiency or too much of these minerals in the body. One good example of the electrolyte disorder is the hyperkalemia and hypokalemia which are caused by too much and too little potassium in the body respectively. The disorders are usually as a result of altered excretion of body fluids, transcellular shifts, and changes in potassium intake.
The symptoms and signs of hyperkalemia are fatigue or overall body weakness, chest pains, nausea or vomiting, difficulty in breathing, and a feeling of numbness or tingling of the body. The extreme of high potassium can lead to paralysis and heart problems. On the other hand, hypokalemia is characterized by irregular heartbeats, abdominal cramping, passing a lot of urine and feeling thirsty all the time, fainting, resulting from low blood pressure, constipation, and unusual psychological conduct like dejection, confusion, and psychosis (emedicinehealth, 2016).
Hyperkalemia is usually caused by excess intake of potassium, impeded potassium excretion, or due to shifts in transcellular. Prescribed drugs, particularly in patients suffering from baseline renal dysfunction, can also cause the disorder. The medication-induced hyperkalemia is mostly as a result of the potassium excretion interference by the drugs (Anthony & Noah, 2015). Hypokalemia usually arises as a result of transcellular shifts, or insufficient intake of potassium. Over-reliance on diuretics can...