POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY

also called Hypokalemia, condition in which an organism fails to receive an adequate supply of potassium, a mineral that forms positive ions (electrically charged particles) in solution and is an essential constituent of cellular fluids. The relationship between potassium and the metabolism of nitrogen compounds is not completely understood, but potassium is known to be important to this process. Storage of potassium in body cells is dependent on maintenance of a proper ratio with calcium and sodium. Potassium is important for normal muscle and nerve responsiveness, heart rhythm, and, in particular, intracellular fluid pressure and balance. Approximately 8 percent of the potassium that the body takes in through food consumption is retained; the rest is readily excreted. Deficiency problems are not usually a result of poor nutrition but may arise in areas where populations subsist on starvation diets. Rapid excretion of potassium in severe diarrhea, diabetes, and prolonged administration of cortisone medications are among the causes of nondietary deficiencies. A lack of potassium is known to exaggerate the effects of sodium in decreases and increases of normal activity. In one form of potassium depletion, which is the loss of adequate potassium in the tissues, including the blood, the potassium has not left the body but has shifted into the body cells from the fluid surrounding them. Almost all foods contain adequate amounts of this mineral for bodily needs.