Potassium Chloride Blog

Study Challenges Potassium Guidelines for Heart Attack Patients

Posted 11 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Jan. 10 – Heart attack patients whose blood potassium levels are within a certain range are less likely to die than those with levels of the mineral below or above that range, says a new study that challenges current recommendations for potassium levels in heart attack patients. Researchers looked at data from nearly 39,000 heart attack patients admitted to 67 U.S. hospitals between 2000 and 2008. Of those patients, nearly 7 percent died while they were hospitalized. The death rate for patients with blood potassium levels of between 3.5 and less than 4 mEq/L (milliEquivalents per liter) was 4.8 percent, about the same as the 5 percent death rate among those with levels of 4 mEq/L to less than 4.5 mEq/L. But mortality rose to 10 percent for those with levels of 4.5 to less than 5 mEq/L, and was even higher for those with levels greater than 5 mEq/L, the investigators found. ... Read more

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