Remained in intensive care for 24 hours during her hospitalization at the American hospital in Neuilly on Monday March 21, Laetitia Hallyday has since been able to go out and join her family in the South . It was following a blood test that the mother of Jade and Joy and partner of Jalil Lespert was diagnosed with hypokalemia. Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo, discusses this disorder and explains what it is. Hypokalemia is a drop in blood potassium. However, potassium is a vital ion in the blood . Laeticia Hallyday was put on a drip after her diagnosis. “It can be measured by a blood test, called an ionogram, and the normal figures are around 4 mmol/l of potassium in the blood,” explains Dr Gérald Kierzek. It is below 3.5 mmol/l of blood that we speak of hypokalaemia.
What are the risks of hypokalemia?
Hypokalemia can lead to serious consequences. “Significant hypokalaemia can be life-threatening,” says Gérald Kierzek. Indeed, the emergency physician explains that “in cases where the deficiency is profound, an infusion must be set up very quickly to compensate for the lack of potassium in the body”. To be sure to consume enough potassium, these foods are rich in it : beets, spinach, white beans, sweet potatoes and potatoes or even bananas…
Where does hypokalemia come from?
There are several kinds of hypokalemia : moderate, severe or very severe. The balance of potassium in the blood is achieved through dietary intake and renal elimination of the ion. If mild hypokalemia can be tolerated in a healthy person, this will not be the case if it increases: ” Moderate to severe hypokalemia can even have cardiac effects with arrhythmias”, adds Dr. Kierzek. There are several causes for this disorder : a diet low in potassium, an increase in the gastrointestinal or renal excretion of potassium or a transfer of potassium into the cell.