What causes HyperKPP?
The periodic paralyses are caused by abnormalities in the ion channels (especially the sodium, calcium and potassium channels) of the muscle membrane. The ion channels control the movement of sodium, chloride, potassium and calcium across the cell membrane and from one cell compartment to another. This movement of ions produces the electrical ‘spark’ which allows our muscles to move. Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis is caused by a flaw in a sodium channel in the muscle membrane. This flaw makes the person with HyperKPP extremely sensitive to increases in serum potassium that wouldn’t bother the average person. Anyone can be made weak by a drastic increase in serum potassium, but the person with HyperKPP gets weak with even a slight elevation in potassium level, and patients with HyperKPP may become profoundly paralyzed while their potassium levels remain well within normal limits, even when their potassium is on the lower end of normal. Weakness most commonly affects the muscles of the
