Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young Bodybuilder
We report a case of life-threatening hypokalemia in a 28-year-old bodybuilder who presented with sudden onset bilateral lower limbs paralysis few days after his bodybuilding competition. His electrocardiogram (ECG) showed typical u-waves due to severe hypokalemia (serum potassium 1.6 mmol/L, referen...
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2014-01-01
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Series: | Case Reports in Endocrinology |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/483835 |
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doaj-200b9f306a2e48f4aef26d71964d26242020-11-24T23:55:50ZengHindawi LimitedCase Reports in Endocrinology2090-65012090-651X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/483835483835Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young BodybuilderKitty K. T. Cheung0Wing-Yee So1Alice P. S. Kong2Ronald C. W. Ma3Francis C. C. Chow4Departments of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong KongDepartments of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong KongDepartments of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong KongDepartments of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong KongDepartments of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong KongWe report a case of life-threatening hypokalemia in a 28-year-old bodybuilder who presented with sudden onset bilateral lower limbs paralysis few days after his bodybuilding competition. His electrocardiogram (ECG) showed typical u-waves due to severe hypokalemia (serum potassium 1.6 mmol/L, reference range (RR) 3.5–5.0 mmol/L). He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and was treated with potassium replacement. The patient later admitted that he had exposed himself to weight loss agents of unknown nature, purchased online, and large carbohydrate loads in preparation for the competition. He made a full recovery after a few days and discharged himself from the hospital against medical advice. The severe hypokalemia was thought to be caused by several mechanisms to be discussed in this report. With the ever rising number of new fitness centers recently, the ease of online purchasing of almost any drug, and the increasing numbers of youngsters getting into the bodybuilding arena, clinicians should be able to recognize the possible causes of sudden severe hypokalemia in these patients in order to revert the pathophysiology.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/483835 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kitty K. T. Cheung Wing-Yee So Alice P. S. Kong Ronald C. W. Ma Francis C. C. Chow |
spellingShingle |
Kitty K. T. Cheung Wing-Yee So Alice P. S. Kong Ronald C. W. Ma Francis C. C. Chow Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young Bodybuilder Case Reports in Endocrinology |
author_facet |
Kitty K. T. Cheung Wing-Yee So Alice P. S. Kong Ronald C. W. Ma Francis C. C. Chow |
author_sort |
Kitty K. T. Cheung |
title |
Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young Bodybuilder |
title_short |
Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young Bodybuilder |
title_full |
Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young Bodybuilder |
title_fullStr |
Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young Bodybuilder |
title_full_unstemmed |
Life-Threatening Hypokalemic Paralysis in a Young Bodybuilder |
title_sort |
life-threatening hypokalemic paralysis in a young bodybuilder |
publisher |
Hindawi Limited |
series |
Case Reports in Endocrinology |
issn |
2090-6501 2090-651X |
publishDate |
2014-01-01 |
description |
We report a case of life-threatening hypokalemia in a 28-year-old bodybuilder who presented with sudden onset bilateral lower limbs paralysis few days after his bodybuilding competition. His electrocardiogram (ECG) showed typical u-waves due to severe hypokalemia (serum potassium 1.6 mmol/L, reference range (RR) 3.5–5.0 mmol/L). He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and was treated with potassium replacement. The patient later admitted that he had exposed himself to weight loss agents of unknown nature, purchased online, and large carbohydrate loads in preparation for the competition. He made a full recovery after a few days and discharged himself from the hospital against medical advice. The severe hypokalemia was thought to be caused by several mechanisms to be discussed in this report. With the ever rising number of new fitness centers recently, the ease of online purchasing of almost any drug, and the increasing numbers of youngsters getting into the bodybuilding arena, clinicians should be able to recognize the possible causes of sudden severe hypokalemia in these patients in order to revert the pathophysiology. |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/483835 |
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