Hypercalcemia: symptoms, causes and treatment of the disease

Hypercalcemia in medicine is called the excess amount of calcium in the blood of a person. Deviations of more than 2.5 mmol / l can be considered.

How does the disease appear?

First, let's look at why there is such a violation as hypercalcemia. The reasons can be very different, and now we will consider some of them:

1. Disorders of the endocrine system. The most common situation is the disruption of parathyroid glands when they produce excessive amounts of hormones. Excess of calcium is also characteristic for other hormonal disorders: hyperthyroidism, acromegaly, etc.

2. Diseases of bones. Often, the destruction of bone tissue occurs hypercalcemia. Symptoms of this disorder are pronounced in patients with osteoporosis, patients with certain hereditary pathologies and Paget's disease. The loss of calcium by bone tissue occurs in the case of prolonged disturbance of human mobility (for example, in trauma or paralysis).

3. Malignant formations. A number of neoplasms (for example, in the lungs, kidneys, ovaries), are able to produce a hormone similar to that produced by parathyroid glands. Its overabundance leads to problems with calcium metabolism. Paraneoplastic syndrome develops , which almost always accompanies hypercalcemia. Symptoms may also appear for another reason: there are types of malignant tumors that throw metastases into the bones, and thereby provoke the release of large amounts of calcium into the blood.

4. Certain medications can also cause this condition. Especial danger conceals in itself the means, accepted at a heartburn or other disturbances of work of a stomach. The problem may be caused by an excess of vitamin D, which increases the absorption of calcium in the digestive tract.

The main symptomatology

Now it's time to talk about how hypercalcemia manifests. Symptoms of it can be seen not at once, and in some cases the disease generally proceeds without any symptoms.

So, what are the most common symptoms?

• General weakness;

• Nausea, which reaches the point of vomiting;

• high blood pressure;

• Severe pain in the muscles and abdomen;

• Loss of appetite;

• Fast fatigue ;

• Emotional instability;

• Frequent urge to urinate;

• thirst.

What happens if you do not notice these signs in time? Hypercalcemia progresses, and in the most severe cases there are violations of the heart rhythm and brain functions, there is confusion, down to delirium. The patient may fall into a coma. Chronic excess of calcium leads to the appearance of kidney stones.

How is hypercalcemia treated?

If the patient is taking vitamin D, the medication should be stopped immediately. In rare cases, surgical intervention is required: removal of one or more parathyroid glands, kidney transplantation.

The attending physician prescribes drugs that promote the excretion of calcium from the bones. Often there is a need to prescribe a diuretic (for example, the drug "Furosemide"), so that the kidneys are quickly cleared of excess calcium.

In cases where all other measures are ineffective, dialysis is performed.

It is important to know why hypercalcemia has arisen. Symptoms that have arisen due to some other disease may temporarily recede, but if the original cause is not eliminated, the problem will again be felt over time.