How potassium levels affect the elderly

Potassium levels within the body affect everyone, though the elderly are more vulnerable than younger patients for many reasons. To fully understand these, one has to explore the uses of potassium within the body, and what affects the level of potassium stored. Although it may seem obscure to those with little nutritional education, potassium is vital to health in various ways, including these:

?Heart function.

?Protein and acid control

?Nerve and muscle efficiency

?Conversion of glucose

?Lung function.

?Kidney function.

As you can see, the list of benefits of having essential levels of potassium encompass a great deal of health issues which would affect the elderly. At this time in their lives, when a good level of body function is not only desirable but essential, potassium helps to keep the body in order.

So how does this help and what does potassium do?

Potassium helps in that is works as a supply of fuel for the muscles not only those which are obvious to movement, but those which help the parts of the body to function correctly, such as the heart, lungs and digestive system. It helps to expel carbon dioxide. It helps to make the muscles function correctly, and without it, the onset of painful cramps and more serious ailments can be experienced.

Learning to recognize symptoms of deficiency.

The first port of call is the office of a physician, because many people do not realize that having too much potassium is as harmful as not having enough. A simple blood test is needed to establish if this is the cause of the symptoms, which may be attributed to other health reasons. Common symptoms include tiredness, continual thirst, muscle spasms, palpitations, kidney problems, lowering of the blood pressure and vomiting or diarrhea. As one can see from the list of symptoms, these can often be mistakenly diagnosed and may be caused by other health issues. The blood test will establish the levels of sodium and potassium and a physician will be able to discuss how these relate to the elderly patient. Water retention is another symptom, although clearly can emanate from other causes, such as medicines being prescribed.

Loss of potassium can occur when a patient vomits regularly or has diarrhea simply because the nutritional value of the food eaten may not be retained sufficiently long within the body for the patient to profit from it. This is why it's essential to check out with a doctor what the actual levels are and whether the cause of symptoms actually indicates a deficiency before assuming that high potassium levels will treat the symptoms efficiently.

The doctor will also be aware of how medicines taken on a regular basis may be affecting these levels. Their expertise is vital to knowing whether the levels are as a direct result of medication. Having the blood test done also helps to establish what changes in the dietary habits do to increase the efficiency of potassium intake, which can be re-measured by another test, after changes have been made.

Balancing sodium and potassium intake.

Sodium and potassium act as opposites. The diet given to the elderly patient can contribute to excess sodium levels which are also a health risk. It is vital to get the balance right, as too much of either of these elements affects health, and the diet should take into account lifestyle. The other elements which help the elderly to balance their levels is to ensure that adequate water is included in the diet, and that those foods which make potassium less effective are cut down, such as coffee and tea intake.

Foods which encourage healthy intake of potassium

Many of the foods which help the elderly person to retain potassium levels which are also healthy are common sense foods which should be included in a healthy diet. Fruit and vegetables such as potatoes, lima beans, dried apricots, tomatoes and greens are healthy inclusions for the diet and can be incorporated even into a liquid diet easily. Why this affects the elderly so much is that many elderly patients take medications which inhibit potassium retention, and the risks involved should be countered by prescription medicine rather than supplements bought by the patient. The doctor knows which medications affect the production and retention of potassium, and will be able to prescribe safely the levels the patient needs.

What is unhealthy is that if the levels of potassium and sodium are not addressed, this creates a health risk on its own, to which the elderly are more susceptible because of the organs within the body that this affects. Heart disease or kidney function are vital to those patients who are already frail. The Western diet favors too much sodium intake and looking at a layout of which foods produce sodium, it is easier to distinguish whether the level between sodium and potassium is being compromised by the diet itself.

Health risks caused by lack of sodium in the elderly are diverse. From exaggerated symptoms of arthritis, through the life threatening heart ailments and stroke, the lack of balance plays a part in how healthy the individual feels and should be addressed by either medication under the supervision of a doctor, or by consultation with a nutritional expert, so that the elderly patient is given a better mix of foods to provide for bodily needs.

Just as people are informed about what foods children need while they are growing, the foods that elderly people need are equally important, and can affect the length of their lives, and the quality of their last years. As one can see from this, it isn't enough to simply eat a banana, although this is great potassium fuel for a crisis situation of cramps. It's a question of getting to the root of the problem and finding out why the levels are unbalanced in the first place, and then addressing those imbalances in conjunction with experts. Although potassium supplements can be bought, the problem associated with self diagnosis in the elderly is that the risk factor is too high a price to pay. Rather than assume the levels are low, and blaming this for bad health, the elderly patient needs professional diagnosis as other elements may come into play.

By addressing low potassium levels with dietary changes and medicinal help, the patient's quality of life can be improved, and risks be minimized and controlled. Potassium levels which are unacceptable should of course be addressed, and if left in an unacceptable state can risk the patient their health. Heart, lung and kidney dysfunction are not merely inconveniences to ignore. These may cost the patient their life, when in fact a simple blood test and addressing of the deficiency hand in hand with professional advice may prolong that life, and make the road easier to tread.