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Could Low Potassium Blood Levels Trigger the Worst Effects of COVID-19 and Also Explain the Racial Disparity in Clinical Outcomes?
Something very interesting was reported by Chinese physicians treating COVID-19 patients in Wuhan: a nearly universal occurrence of hypokalemia. Hypokalemia is a deficiency of potassium in the blood. Serum levels are obtained from blood draws and compared with normal ranges.
The above-linked article states: “The study involving 175 patients in collaboration with Wenzhou Hospital found that almost all patients exhibited hypokalemia and for those who already had hypokalemia, the situation even drastically worsened as the disease progressed.
“However, it was found from the study that patients responded well to potassium ion supplements and had a better chance of recovery.”
Also of great interest is an article by Kara Fitzgerald, a naturopathic physician, in which a theory is advanced to explain how low levels of potassium might trigger CSS (cytokine storm system) by inducing hyperaldosteronism, thereby triggering the NLRP3 inflammasome. Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes, a part of the human immune system which triggers inflammatory responses. Many of the sickest COVID-19 patients are those experiencing tissue inflammation and often tissue death…
