Hypercalcemia: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment
HYPERCALCEMIA – Here are the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment to a calcium-related health condition called hypercalcemia.
According to Healthine, it is a condition which is the result of having too high a concentration of calcium in your blood.
Calcium is necessary for the normal function of organs, cells, muscles, and nerves. It also plays a vital role in blood clotting and bone health.
This condition, however, makes it difficult for the body to carry out its normal functions as extremely high levels of calcium can be life-threatening.
Symptoms
Here are the symptoms you might experience:
- General
- headaches
- fatigue
- Kidney
- excessive thirst
- excessive urination
- back and upper abdomen pain on one side due to kidney stones
- Abdomen
- nausea
- abdominal pain
- decreased appetite
- constipation
- vomiting
- Heart
- abnormal heart rhythms due to high calcium affecting the electrical system of the heart
- Muscles
- twitches
- cramps
- weakness
- Skeletal system
- bone pain
- osteoporosis
- fractures from disease
- Neurological symptoms
- depression
- memory loss
- irritability
- confusioni
- coma
Causes
Based on the website, our body uses the interaction between calcium, vitamin D, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) in order to regulate calcium levels.
PTH, in particular, aids the body in controlling how much comes into the blood stream from certain organs. It increases when the calcium level in your blood falls and vice versa.
Here are the possible causes:
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Lung diseases and cancers
- Medication side effects
- Dietary supplements and over-the-counter medications
- Dehydration
Diagnosis
Tests to check if you have conditions that can cause hypercalcemia include the following:
- blood tests
- urine tests that measure calcium, protein, and other substances
- chest X-rays, which can reveal lung cancer
- mammograms, which help diagnose breast cancer
- CT scans, which form a more detailed image of your body
- MRI scans, which produce detailed images of your body’s organs and other structures
- DEXA bone mineral density tests, which evaluate bone strength
Treatment
For mild cases, you do not need treatment, depending on the cause. you need to, however, monitor its progress.
For moderate to severe cases, you need to get a hospital treatment. Common treatment choices include the following:
- Calcitonin – hormone produced in the thyroid gland. It slows down bone loss.
- Intravenous fluids – hydrate you and lower calcium levels in the blood.
- Corticosteroids – anti-inflammatory medications. They’re useful in the treatment of too much vitamin D.
- Loop diuretic medications – help your kidneys move fluid and get rid of extra calcium, especially if you have heart failure.
- Intravenous bisphosphonates – lowers blood calcium levels by regulating bone calcium.
- Dialysis – this is performed to rid your blood of extra calcium and waste when you have damaged kidneys. This is usually done if other treatment methods aren’t working.
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