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Serum Potassium Not Associated With Cardiovascular Risk In General Population

Serum potassium levels were not associated with risk of cardiovascular disease in study participants who were not taking medications that affect potassium homeostasis.

Researchers note that extremely high or low serum potassium levels can be lethal but less is known about the prognostic value of serum potassium at ranges commonly encountered in people in the community, say investigators with the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, Massachusetts, Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Centre, Harvard University and Boston University, all in Boston, United States.

Originally, 5,209 residents of Framingham were included in the Framingham Heart Study, a prospective cohort study established in 1948 to evaluate potential risk factors for coronary heart disease. In 1971, researchers added an additional 5,124 participants, all offspring of original cohort members and their spouses. This cohort became the Framingham Offspring Study.

Participants in serum potassium study were drawn from the offspring cohort. They had blood samples taken for measurement of serum potassium levels at the second examination, in 1979 to 1983.

Researchers report they found 313 cardiovascular events (including 46 deaths) among participants during mean follow-up of 16 years: "After adjustment for age, serum potassium level was marginally associated with risk of cardiovascular disease. After further adjustment for multiple confounders, serum potassium level was not significantly associated with cardiovascular disease risk."

They add that they found no significant associations between serum potassium level and cardiovascular disease-related death in either age- and sex-adjusted models or in multivariable-adjusted models.

The study was conducted in a largely white population which may mean that it may have limited generalizability to other ethnic populations, the researchers point out. The study cannot also cannot account for changes in serum potassium levels over time because serum potassium concentration was measured at a single point in time.
Archives of Internal Medicine, 2002; 162: 1007-1012. "Serum Potassium and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease The Framingham Heart Study"

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