Pennsylvania Department of Health to Distribute Free Potassium Iodide (KI) Tablets to Residents Near Nuclear Power Plants - Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (.gov)

News|Videos|October 23, 2026 In a randomized crossover trial, a liberalized produce diet raised urinary potassium excretion without changing serum potassium. Urinary potassium excretion rose on a liberalized produce diet, while serum potassium did not differ significantly compared with a restricted diet. Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are often advised to limit potassium-rich fruits and vegetables. In a randomized crossover trial, increasing potassium intake through these foods did not produce a statistically significant increase in serum potassium compared with a restricted diet.¹ Navdeep Tangri, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba in Canada, presented the findings at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2026 in Denver, Colorado. In an interview with HCPLive, he highlighted the disconnect between dietary potassium intake, urinary potassium excretion, and blood potassium concentrations. “I think all of us, when we go back to our physiology textbooks, know that most potassium in the body is not in the blood; it’s inside cells,” Tangri said.

Dietary potassium restriction is important for managing hyperkalemia, or high blood potassium levels, in individuals on maintenance hemodialysis, but it imposes a substantial day-to-day burden. Results from a recent clinical trial indicate that adding the potassium binder sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC) may help. The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2026 October 22–25. In the multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group trial, outpatients receiving thrice-weekly maintenance hemodialysis with pre-dialysis serum potassium of 5.5 to <6.5 mEq/L were assigned to SZC plus standardized nutritional counseling or nutritional counseling alone for 8 weeks.

High levels of potassium in the blood, common in people on certain medications or with kidney disease, often come with no symptoms but can be deadly in severe cases. Because people with hyperkalemia, or high potassium, often "feel normal," their treating physicians must determine whether their condition can be safely managed outside the hospital or requires more urgent treatment in the emergency department. Researchers at Western University and London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) have shown that the risk of death was significantly lower among patients who were able to get to an emergency department within 24 hours of an abnormally high potassium reading.

High levels of potassium in the blood, common in people on certain medications or with kidney disease, often come with no symptoms, but can be deadly in severe cases. Because people with hyperkalemia, or high potassium, often "feel normal," their treating physicians must determine whether their condition can be safely managed outside the hospital or requires more urgent treatment in the emergency department.