The effects of acute and chronic exercise on serum potassium in hemodialysis patients

Author / Creator

Carney, Colleen Mary, author

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Summary

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute and chronic exercise on serum potassium (K+) levels in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The specific intent of this research was to test...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute and chronic exercise on serum potassium (K+) levels in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The specific intent of this research was to test the following hypothesis: that an extended period of exercise training will have no effect on the rise in K+ during an acute exercise bout in HD patients. Forty-five patients were randomized into low and high hemoglobin groups and further randomized into control and exercise groups. The exercise groups were trained 3 times a week for 3 months. All groups of patients were tested on a cycle ergometer at increasing levels of difficulty, at study initiation and after 3 months. The results of the study indicated a significant increase in serum K+ during acute maximal exercise in all groups; however, the rise in K+ measured as max K+ or max delta K+ was not significantly different between groups. Exercise training did not attenuate the rise in serum K+ during maximal work effort in the trained individuals, and, though resting K+ decreased after training, the decline was not significant. The small increase in delta-K+ after training appears to correspond to the increase in work effort.

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