Helloo everyone :D
Ok, imagine this:
You are a frail and weak damsel in distress, struggling to walk home with your heavy, bulging schoolbag plus an armful of books. You drop a few books, and dump the bag on the ground to pick them up. Just as you are struggling to heft the bag onto your shoulder again, suddenly, out of nowhere, a shadow falls across you, and a smooth, male voice asks " may I carry that for you?" And you turn around to see this bright light, you seem to hear ambient music playing in the background and the light seems to part to show you this really handsome and good-looking guy, resembling your modern-day knight in shining armour, come to rescue you from the doom and gloom of sucky everyday life :D


Ta-dah!

But then, of course, all your magical imaginings disappear and your hunky knight turns into a bespectacled nerd when, try as he might, he cant get your bag off the ground, and is then forced to carry your wimpy little stack of books while you shoulder the pack. And when Mister Shrimpy and you finally get to your house, and he asks you for your number, you give him a fake one, before slamming the door in his face.
I suppose you must forgive the poor kid, cause after all, he may be suffering from this :
Hypokalemia,also known as potassium deficiency.

This does NOT mean that I suggest for all the wimpy guys out there to raid their schools Science labs and gulp down the store of potassium. It will NOT turn you into superman.
Neither will getiing bitten by a mutant spider turn you into Spiderman, but that is another story.

(ok, I know spiderman doesnt dance like this, but I found it freaking hilarious. How could I resist? :D )
Hypokalemia is a potentially FATAL condition where the body fails to retain sufficient, well..............potasssium. (duh) The meaning of the disease can be found in the word Hypokalemia itself. When dissected, hypo means low, not to be confused with the meaning of HYPER, which means high. Kal refers to kalium, which is latin for potassium, while emia means "in the blood" .
Cool eh?

Ok, now to the not-so-cool part. Signs of hypokalemia include Muscle weakness and pain ( the cheem word for muscle pain is myalgia) , disorientation, seizures and disturbed heart rythm. It can be caused by insufficient consumption of potassium,excessive loss of water (It flushes out potassium) through vomiting or diarrhea, consuming certain medications that accelerate the removal of potassium from the body, or by having certain forms of diabetes. A rarer reason could be that it is hereditary.
Since potassium is essential for muscle and nerve activity, we need a way to cure it right :D
The most important step is to stop the vomiting, diarrhea, or offending medication so the patient cannot lose anymore potassium. If it is only a mild case of hypokalmia, it may be treated by taking oral supplements and potassium rich food such as

tomatoes,


oranges


and bananas.


(avoid those in pajamas, of course :D)
But in serious cases, the patient may have to be warded to recieve intravenous supplementation, which is where they stick a needle in your hand and connect it to a bottle of stuff, and in this case, the bottle will contain saline, which is used world-wide to treat hypokalemia. It requires precise doses and intensive monitering, so be prepared for a long hospital stay.

Just a side note, but your pets can get this as well, so make sure they get enough tomatoes, oranges and bananas too :D

Huimei out, after posting 3 times in a row :D