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From Infancy to Adulthood: Understanding Hypocalcemia as a Persistent Deficiency

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Low calcium can have a devastating effect on your overall wellness. Hypocalcemia is a leading condition. It is increasingly plaguing the population beyond the post-reproductive age groups. 

Besides, its side effects include poor blood clotting, meaning severe blood loss from minor bruises. Check this article to learn more about the hypocalcemia symptoms and how to have them treated at the earliest.

Hypocalcemia: Overview

Calcium is among the most vital macronutrients your body requires daily. It's synonymous with robust bones and healthy teeth. Besides, it's crucial in natural muscle coordination and circulatory functions. Individuals with poor calcium supply in their diet can experience hypocalcemia symptoms

Hypocalcemia causes acute bone issues, unexplained weight loss, and poor immunity, among severe side effects. These can turn chronic when early signs don't receive prompt clinical attention. Besides, common among individuals have contributing factors like age and underlying complications. 

Hypocalcemia symptoms: How to recognise the early signs?

Whether a brief discomfort while climbing stairs or a sudden back ache when performing domestic chores, hypocalcemia symptoms appear with enhanced deficiency. Never ignore the mentioned symptoms below since low calcium does irreparable damage. Check out the potential signs of calcium deficiency in your body:

  • Unexplained tetany or continuous muscle spasms.
  • Brittle nails with marked stunted growth.
  • Poor wound healing properties.
  • Mental confusion with hallucinatory tendencies.
  • Tendency to get injured from brief abrasion.
  • Sudden numbness of hands and feet.
  • Loss of memory with increasing seizures in epilepsy patients.

While immediate consumption of calcium supplements immediately is a preventive step, please consult your physician to get treated for potential hypocalcemia symptoms

Hypocalcemia causes: What are the underlying factors?

Hypocalcemia doesn't appear overnight. As your body fails to replenish the macronutrient requirements, the signs turn acute over time. Potential factors include dietary deficiencies as the primary reason, besides age, and poor immunity also spikes the calcium crisis in your body. Check out the contributing factors that could worsen your hypocalcemia:

  • Malnutrition and poverty.
  • Excessive physical work without adequate replenishment.
  • Vitamin D deficiency. 
  • Improper parathyroid and thyroid functioning.
  • Aged folks with poor calcium metabolism.
  • Women at menopause.
  • Surgical operations, including treatment of mechanical injuries or removal of thyroid and parathyroid glands.
  • Chronic renal failure.
  • Drug side effects.
  • Acute pancreas ailments.
  • Potential autosomal disorders like DiGeorge Syndrome and muscular dystrophy.
  • Individuals having rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Rapid blood transfusion to compensate for clinical ailments.

Hypocalcemia diagnosis: How to catch it early?

Hypocalcemia gets promptly detected through manual examination by a registered medical practitioner. Besides, pathological tests and imagery analysis help your specialist pinpoint the affected regions and the prognosis. Here's more about detecting hypocalcemia symptoms:

  • Manual detection through tapping on potential bone joints and muscles to look for unexplained contraction and trauma.
  • Blood test for checking calcium levels (hypocalcemia if the concentration is below 8.8 mg/dl).
  • Tests for detecting anomalies in thyroid and parathyroid glands (these produce hormones responsible for calcium metabolism).
  • Imagery techniques to detect osteomalacia, gouts, osteoporosis and rickets.

Hypocalcemia treatment: How to control further advancement of symptoms?

The primary hypocalcemia treatment includes prompt replenishment of underlying deficiencies. However, potential recovery is incomplete without addressing the root cause of low calcium in your body. Your physician shall proceed as per the diagnostic report and follow treatment or change existing medications to enhance your blood calcium levels. Here's more about hypocalcemia treatment techniques:

  • Oral medication containing calcium supplements helps replenish the underlying shortage.
  • Your doctor might prescribe vitamin D supplements to ensure better calcium absorption in your body.
  • Treatment of thyroid and parathyroid ailments to naturalise secretion of calcitonin and thyrocalcitonin.
  • Immediate supply of calcium over IV if you are experiencing potential tetany signs.
  • Reorganise your existing medications to ensure natural blood calcium levels.

How to prevent hypocalcemia during early signs?

Hypocalcemia symptoms are preventable if careful about the infrequent body discomfort as the early signs. Remember, poor tolerance to pain, frequent weight loss, and abrasion from limited impact are alarming signs of calcium deficiency. Besides regular health checkups, here's more about taking a preventive approach to counter low blood calcium:

  • Take care of your dietary intake (milk, beans, cheese, yoghurt, and sea fish).
  • No alcohol since it pulls down your vital mineral concentration.
  • Get treated for existing thyroid/parathyroid issues.
  • Don't ignore frequent body discomfort persisting after laborious work (lower back pain, abnormal spasms, and muscle contractions).
  • Get a complete health check to detect underlying autosomal or autoimmune conditions that degrade calcium levels.
  • Reduce overweight and practice yoga or strength exercises to boost healthy muscle development (boosts calcium metabolism).

Who's prone to develop hypocalcemia?

Hypocalcemia symptoms are no longer limited to folks above 60. Whether neonatal, teenagers, young adults, or women in menopause, anyone with poor calcium replenishment can experience these symptoms. Check the potential features of individuals prone to develop calcium deficiencies:

  • Newborn babies can experience low calcium levels if the mother has diabetes and contributing complications.
  • Young kids to teenagers could develop hypocalcemia from poor dietary habits.
  • Adults can show poor calcium levels from lifestyle issues (smoking, alcoholism, sedentary lifestyle).
  • Men and women over 50 are prone to hypocalcemia since hormonal changes from menopause disrupt natural calcium metabolism.
  • Individuals with genetic and autoimmune disorders are vulnerable to experiencing calcium deficiency without clinical support. 

Conclusion

Hypocalcemia is a curable condition. Most individuals experience it at least once during their lifetime. Clinical experts suggest a balanced lifestyle and preventive care to ensure your body doesn't experience low calcium levels. Besides, never ignore potential symptoms or rely on OTC drugs for temporary relief without a clinical consultation. 

CTAHypocalcemia treatment requires blood diagnostic tests to ascertain the underlying ailments. Do you need a doorstep collection of your blood samples? Trust Metropolis Labs, thanks to their versatile technicians providing seamless collection and delivery to state-of-the-art testing facilities. For more information about the calcium total serum test, visit Metropolis Labs today. 

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