Potassium is an essential mineral which is known as an electrolyte. Electrolytes are responsible for maintaining the ionic balance of your body. Other electrolytes are sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, chloride. These electrolytes bear an electric charge which manages the electrical activity of your health system. Potassium also helps the muscles of the body to function properly. In fact, it has its contribution in regulating blood pressure; a crucial role for a healthy heart.

Potassium deficiency is a kind of medical condition which is known as hypokalemia. The normal level of potassium in the human body should be in between 3.5-5.0 mmol/L. But the deficiency in potassium can cause severe problems including muscle weakness, nerve disorders, heart problems, etc. Kidney is the organ which is known to manage the potassium balance by removing the extra potassium through urine.

Causes of potassium deficiency:

Lack of potassium in diet
Dehydration
Diarrhoea
Too much sweating
Several medicines also cause potassium deficiency

Signs of potassium deficiency:

You are getting wiped out too often: Like it is discussed before that potassium is responsible for your muscles to work actively. Each and every cell needs the required amount of potassium to work effectively. So, a little deficiency of potassium can leave you exhausted throughout the day. If your normal working routine leaves you exhausted and if you are sweating too often, then there is a chance that you are suffering from hypokalemia.
High blood pressure: Potassium plays an important role in maintaining the blood pressure by helping in relaxing the blood vessels. Low potassium can cause the blood vessels to get constricted, due to which your blood pressure increases.
Muscle weakness: Potassium plays a significant role in building the strength of your muscles. Lack of potassium can easily cause muscle weakness, aches and spasms.
Irregular heartbeat: Anything regarding your heart problem can scare you badly; especially when you experience sudden skipped heart rate or when your heart rate doubles. Low potassium can cause such palpitations and skipped heartbeat.
Feeling dizzy: Lack of potassium in your body can slow down your heart rate and make you feel dizzy or you may feel that you are going to faint. Though many other medical conditions can be responsible for such symptoms but hypokalemia is one of them.
Constipation: Potassium deficiency can affect your overall health. You might encounter symptoms like bloating, abdominal cramping etc.
Numbness and tingling: Potassium is significant in keeping your nerves healthy. Potassium deficiency can make you experience numbness, needle sensations on your feet, wrist, etc.
These are the signs that people encounter when they suffer from hypokalemia. Hypokalemia can make you feel extremely sick and it causes several diseases which are discussed above. It is always advisable to visit a doctor when you encounter any of these above mentioned symptoms.

Potassium Deficiency - 7 Signs You Are Suffering From It!

Read to know why choosing diet drinks over regular beverages is not good for your health. The diet contains aspartame which is reportedly 200 times sweeter than table sugar. It adversely effects the brain, increases belly fat, headache, abdominal pain etc. 

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Pancreas is a small organ that is located in the lower part of the stomach. It lies just behind the abdomen. It functions by producing the insulin hormone which is responsible for regulating blood sugar level in the body and breaking down food into glucagon which is stored in the body. This glucagon is converted into glucose which is used by the body for energy and other purposes. Therefore, pancreatic transplant is done in patients with a malfunctioning pancreas.

Why is pancreatic transplant required?
Patients suffering from type I diabetes usually undergo a pancreatic transplant. Type I diabetes is characterized by the inability of the pancreas to produce insulin, thereby leading to low blood sugar level. This type of diabetes occurs due to the malfunction of pancreatic beta cells whose primary role is to produce insulin. These beta cells make up around 65 to 80 percent of the cells found in the pancreatic islets. They typically malfunction when the body's immune system begins to attack and destroy the pancreatic beta cells. Therefore, type I diabetes is an autoimmune disorder. Patients with type I diabetes require insulin injections that might cause severe reactions. People dependent on insulin are prone to the development of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic nephropathy.

People with type II diabetes generally do not need pancreatic transplant because this type of diabetes occurs due to low production of insulin or lack of insulin resistance. Here is a list of the probable reasons why pancreatic transplant is required:

People who have type I diabetes but are not cured by standard treatment
Severe reactions to insulin injections
Low blood sugar
Kidney damage
Hypoglycemia unawareness
A pancreatic transplant can be of three types. They are:

Pancreas transplant only- People with type I diabetes and normally functioning kidneys require only a pancreatic transplant.
Pancreas and kidney transplant- Type I diabetes, in rare cases, leads to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or end-stage kidney disease where one or both the kidneys are damaged. In such cases, pancreas and kidney are transplanted simultaneously to disable the dependence on insulin injection. This type of surgery may also be required when the pancreas and the kidneys come from the same donor.
Pancreas-after-kidney transplant- In some cases of type I diabetes, your doctor will recommend kidney transplant first followed by pancreatic transplant. It must be remembered that pancreatic transplant should be done by taking into consideration the side-effects caused by the anti-rejection injections administered after the procedure is performed. It may cause bone thinning, high cholesterol and high blood pressure in a patient s body. As the anti-rejection injections work by suppressing the immune system, the body s defense mechanism against infections and other diseases becomes ineffective to a considerable extent.
A pancreatic transplant is a serious procedure that requires a lot of deliberations and consultations with your doctor and should only be opted for when the benefits outweigh the side effects from the anti-rejection medications.

Pancreatic Transplant - When Is It Required?

Enlarged pancreas can result beacuse of factors such as: 

An abscess in your pancreas: This refers to a dangerous formation inside the pancreas. Neglecting its occurrence can also turn out to be fatal. An abscess is a cavity containing pus that further infects the rest of the organ. Presence of harmful bacteria in the pancreas leads to such a case.
A cyst in the lining of your pancreas: Epithelial cysts in the pancreas can also cause the organ to swell up. Such cysts are mostly benign but they are accompanied by disabling pain.
Pancreatitis is one disease with an array of threats: Highly active enzymes within the organ can make its tissues wear down thus, affecting the size of your pancreas. If you are an alcoholic, you are more prone to develop this condition. It could also be contracted due to an excess of calcium or fats in the blood.
Cancer of the pancreas is dreadful too: Due to the unanticipated growth of cancer cells in the pancreas, the organ grows bigger. A person suffers from excruciating pain under the influence of this condition.
Pseudocysts in the pancreas can have serious ill effects: When benign cysts become unmanageably harmful, they result into pseudocysts. The cysts contain remains of your tissues and other damaging fluids that can increase the size of the pancreas.
An enlarged pancreas surfaces in the form of these symptoms:

The kind of stool you pass indicates a lot about your health. Oily poop can be indicative of an enlarged pancreas. Persisting diarrhea can also be a symptom of pancreatic ailments.
You may even experience an accelerated pulse rate.
You may feel feverish continually. Bouts of fever can impede your free movement and general health.
Health issues with your pancreas can make you suffer from jaundice. It could be a one- time affair or it could reappear from time to time.
Constant queasiness could hint at some underlying problem in your pancreas.
You may even lose more than a few pounds over a short span of time. Such a thing should not be taken lightly as it not only makes you look sick but also degrades your immunity.

Enlarged Pancreas - 5 Factors Behind It 

Problems are pancreas are common and are treated by gastroenterologists. There are two common pancreas problems -

1. Acute Pancreatitis: Sudden Inflammation of the pancreas is known as acute pancreatitis. It is usually due to Alcohol, gall stones, trauma, metabolic causes such as hypertriglyceridemia, and congenital causes such as Pancreas divisum. The patient presents with severe upper abdominal pain and vomiting. Patients require admission for IV fluids and analgesics. Nearly all patients recover from the pain and start eating within 3 to 4 days. Few patients with severe pancreatitis may develop kidney failure, respiratory failure or GI bleeding. Such patients require longer hospitalisation stay and critical care management. Recovery is usually uneventful but few patients develop peripancreatic fluid collection known as Pseudocyst or walled-off pancreatic necrosis(WOPN). In such cases, the patient requires additional treatment of fluid collection and requires internal drainage by Cystogastrostomy which is done by Endosonography (EUS) by a gastroenterologist. Some patients require ERCP (Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) for evaluation of pancreatic ductal leak. EUS and ERCP are advanced endoscopic procedures done by a few gastroenterologists who are specially trained in such procedures.

2. Chronic pancreatitis: Long term irreversible damage to the pancreas is called chronic pancreatitis. It is usually due to Alcohol intake. It presents with upper abdominal pain, Diabetes mellitus and fat in stools (steatorrhea). The small duct in the pancreas called main pancreatic duct can have hard calcifications also known as stones, which obstruct the flow of pancreatic juice and cause severe abdominal pain. Treatment of chronic pancreatitis includes stopping alcohol intake to prevent further damage to the pancreas, medicines for pain, Pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) and Endoscopy for those who do not respond to medical treatment. Endoscopy includes ERCP and plastic stenting to establish a flow of obstructed pancreatic duct and Endosonography (EUS) guided Celiac plexus block for decreasing pain. Patients who develop fluid collection such as Pseudocyst require internal drainage by Cystogastrostomy which is done by Endosonography (EUS)

In Brief About Types Of Pancreatic Disorders!

The diagnosis as well as management of pancreatic cystic lesions is a general problem. Nearly 1% of the patients in the chief medical centers have been observed to have pancreatic cystic lesions on cross sectional imaging. It has also been observed that a quarter of all pancreas scanned in an autopsy series contain pancreatic cysts. Earlier, these cystic lesions were regarded benign but with increasing evidence made available from the cystic lesions, they are regarded as origin of pancreatic malignancies.


Information on asymptomatic neoplastic pancreatic cysts
The most vital medical tools that are used in the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cystic lesions include the endoscopic ultrasound and cross sectional imaging. These are used to distinguish non-mucinous cysts from mucinous cysts. The identification of pancreatic cysts creates a lot of anxiety for the clinicians as well as the patients related to the probable presence of a fatal tumor. The findings of a macro cystic lesion that enclose viscous fluid loaded in cea are helpful in the analysis of a mucinous lesion. 


The most common pancreatic cysts are the non-neoplastic inflammatory pseudo cysts, and they can be detected easily by imaging. The identification of pancreatic irregularity with probable association with malignant cells is a vital source of referral for the specialist. The set of guidelines that have been proposed for the management and diagnosis of patients with asymptomatic neoplastic pancreatic cysts are based specifically on the analysis of the quality of the data. It is also designed to address the most important and frequent clinical scenarios. The diagnostic suggestions are provided based on the clinical problem as well as the risk of malignancy.


Imperative guidelines to follow
To achieve accurate diagnosis of asymptomatic neoplastic pancreatic cysts is indeed a great challenge. It is all the more important to find the reproducible methods that can be used to stratify threat of cancer for the patients. The main guidelines include a two year screening interval of cysts that can be of any size as well as stopping observation after 5 years, in case there is no change. The new guidelines, for the most part, recommend surgery if more than one concerning feature is confirmed on the mri by use of endoscopic ultrasound. The new guidelines even suggest discontinuation of inspection after the surgery if no dysplasia or invasive cancer is identified. The guidelines have mainly been developed by use of grading of recomendations assessment, development and evaluation.

Diagnosis and Management of Asymptomatic Neoplastic Pancreatic Cysts

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