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health advisory Diet Diet 2007-11-11 21:03:03

Answer:

Potassium is an intracellular cation. The atomic symbol is K+. In the body it helps to regulate muscle contractions, most especially in the heart muscle. To much or to little can cause cardiac arrhythmia's or irregular heart beats. To much potassium can be truly life threatening. There are medications that can be given to help the body excrete the extra via the urinary system and must be prescribed by a physician, but by the time that we find out that a person has high K+ they are usually hospitalized and in critical care. Low K+ can be supplemented with a pill or by eating a banana each day. The only way to test for potassium is by a blood test. Hope this helps.

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The short answer is that it is "the opposite" of sodium, and you need it because muscles move by bringing in Sodium, or Potassium. Without both, neither works, and everything suffers. People die from imbalances in extreme conditions. But for now, just know that it counters sodium so that muscle movement is possible.

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