Part of the mechanism is that potassium lowers your blood pressure, whereas sodium raises it.
High blood pressure slowly damages the cardiac walls, leading to less blood flow, which impairs kidney function, which leads to less effective filtration of sodium and potassium, leading to higher blood pressure. So in this way, heart failure becomes self-reinforcing.
One way to break that feedback loop is to start a high-potassium diet.
sleepyguy•5mo ago
Anyone taking an ACE inhibitor for hypertension/protect the heart, or an SGLT2 inhibitor for diabetes, risks hyperkalemia (high potassium), irregular heartbeat, and muscle weakness. It's not as simple as starting a high-potassium diet.
These articles do not take into account that there are 10's of millions taking these types of drugs, where Potassium levels must be monitored carefully to prevent a slew of other problems.
brandonb•5mo ago
High blood pressure slowly damages the cardiac walls, leading to less blood flow, which impairs kidney function, which leads to less effective filtration of sodium and potassium, leading to higher blood pressure. So in this way, heart failure becomes self-reinforcing.
One way to break that feedback loop is to start a high-potassium diet.
sleepyguy•5mo ago
These articles do not take into account that there are 10's of millions taking these types of drugs, where Potassium levels must be monitored carefully to prevent a slew of other problems.