Dietary Considerations for Patients with Chronic Hyperkalemia

Jaclyn Harth, PharmD, clinical assistant professor, Fairleigh Dickinson School of Pharmacy, explains the dietary considerations for patients with chronic hyperkalemia. This video was filmed at the ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) 54th Clinical Meeting & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jaclyn Harth, PharmD: In addition to talking to patients about their new medications that they’ll be taking for chronic hyperkalemia, as a pharmacist, we can talk to them about their diet. So a lot of our recommendations for patients with chronic kidney disease, or cardiovascular disease, we recommend heart healthy diets; plant based diets with fruits and vegetables. But when we recommend those diets, they’re very high in potassium—fruits and vegetables have a lot of potassium. So when we are talking to patients about their disease state, we can certainly talk to them about taking into consideration starting a low potassium diet. And also with that comes probably a recommendation to see a dietician or have a dietician consult if the patient is still in the hospital.