A Potassium blood test is among the most significant lab tests that determine the levels of this critical electrolyte in your body. Potassium function in the body is highly significant in nerve impulses, muscle contraction, and heartbeat. It becomes imperative to understand what is Potassium Blood Test? because both potassium deficiency due to low levels and excess of potassium can lead to fatal medical conditions.
The test identifies hyperkalemia (high potassium) and hypokalemia (low potassium) so it is treated in the onset. Having your baseline potassium is what prevents severe complications. In this article, we are going to do it all from how to get ready for a potassium level test through to the cost of a potassium blood test so you are set.
What is Potassium Blood Test?
Potassium blood test or potassium serum test is a quick lab test to determine the amount of potassium in your blood. You may ask, What is a Potassium Blood Test? In reality, it is a test to determine whether your usual level of potassium is below the healthy range of 3.5 to 5.0 mmol/L.
This test may be prescribed by your doctor if he/she is also going to examine an electrolyte imbalance or screen for chronic illnesses such as kidney disease or heart disease. Serum potassium test is typically also performed with other tests to examine your general health.
Why is the Potassium Blood Test Done?
Your physician can have you tested for blood levels of potassium if you have high potassium symptoms (hyperkalemia), weakness, palpitations, or numbness, or hypokalemia, muscle spasms, fatigue, and arrhythmia.
The test is also needed in the diagnosis of hyperkalemia and hypokalemia, two very important potassium imbalances.
Other standard reasons for a potassium level test include checking the action of medications such as diuretics, identifying kidney or adrenal disease, and measuring cardiac disease which may cause arrhythmias. That is, the test is necessary for effective and safe control.
How to Prepare for a Potassium Blood Test?
Potassium level test preparation is easy. Unlike with some other fasting tests, a potassium blood test fast is not typically necessary unless your doctor advises you to do so. Your doctor can advise you not to exercise or engage in strenuous activity prior to the test and not to wait to consume alcohol or medications that will affect your level of potassium.
Watch what you eat, some lead to electrolyte imbalance, so tell your doctor if you are on diuretics, laxatives, or supplements. Preparation for this critical test can assist in giving accurate potassium test results.
Potassium Blood Test Technique
When taking the potassium blood test, a phlebotomist will prepare your arm and draw a little bit of blood from a vein. The test itself is rapid, typically not over a few minutes, and hardly a pinprick to most people. Your sample is sent to the lab for your potassium test to be finished. Your result for the potassium serum test is sent to your doctor in a few hours to a few days.
The convenience and comfort with which the potassium blood test is carried out ensure that a majority of individuals do not have any side effects, hence it is a routine test that is utilized to determine your general well-being.
What to Expect After the Potassium Blood Test?
After the potassium blood test has been carried out, you can go ahead and resume your daily activities without any limitation. Bruising or some tenderness at the site of puncture in some cases, this ache will be alleviated with a cold pack.
Your physician will interpret your potassium test for the presence of your normal potassium levels or if additional testing needs to be conducted. If your test results show hyperkalemia or hypokalemia, your physician will order further tests or treatments, such as changes in eating habits, medication, or intravenous administration to level off your electrolyte.
Interpreting Potassium Blood Test Results
Your potassium blood test result will have a number and can be measured against normal ranges for potassium.
Elevated test results may foretell serious health conditions. If you have high potassium symptoms and your blood test detects that you have high potassium, then you can develop hyperkalemia caused by high potassium reasons such as kidney failure or overusing potassium.
Likewise, low potassium symptoms usually correspond with hypokalemia findings, and typical causes of low potassium are because of the overuse of diuretics, diarrhea, or malnourishment. Your doctor will tell you what your potassium serum test results mean and if follow-up tests are needed.
Conditions Diagnosed with Potassium Blood Test
Potassium blood test is utilized to assist in the diagnosis of a variety of severe diseases. It is most frequently caused by kidney disease, but also endocrine diseases such as Addison's disease. He or she will also monitor for nerve or muscle malfunction abnormalities, heartbeat arrhythmias, or other indications of an electrolyte imbalance.
This is also critical in hyperkalemia and hypokalemia, two extremely hazardous imbalances that require extreme caution to treat. By discovering it early in life through potassium level test, intervention can be implemented immediately before something complicates like cardiac arrest or paralysis of the muscles.
Potassium Blood Test vs Urine Test
Physicians also order a blood potassium test and a urine test sometimes to gain a better understanding. A test for serum potassium is done to measure how much potassium your blood contains to detect imbalances and the causes of high potassium or the causes of low potassium.
By this time, a urine test can report how much potassium is being eliminated. Comparison of both tests can inform us whether your kidneys are losing and retaining potassium in the right way and can identify any underlying electrolyte imbalance which may be impacting your heart and muscle.
Potassium Blood Test Price in Pakistan
Potassium blood test cost in Pakistan also differs depending on the diagnostic center and city you are residing in.
Usually, the cost of a potassium blood test ranges between PKR 500 and PKR 1,500. Many clinics offer this test as part of a larger potassium level test or electrolyte panel package, especially if you’re also looking to check your kidney function. It’s wise to call ahead to check the price at your preferred lab, and some insurance policies may also cover part of this cost.
Book lab tests from the best-certified labs in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and all major cities of Pakistan through InstaCare, and get a discount of up to 35%. For assistance, call our helpline at 03171777509 to find the right lab test for your health needs.
