What Causes Hypercalcemia?

Tens of thousands of individuals develop the symptoms of hypercalcemia each year. Hypercalcemia, a condition where the body cannot regulate excess calcium levels in the blood, is not usually caused by eating too much calcium, and reducing dietary calcium does not usually make the condition go away. Curing hypercalcemia involves treating the underlying condition causing it. Whatever causes hypercalcemia, the symptoms include thirst, frequent urination, confusion and other cognition problems, weakness and fatigue, reduced appetite, vomiting and nausea, irregular heartbeat, cardiac arrest, and coma.

Read on to learn about the leading causes of hypercalcemia.

Cancer

Several types of cancer, such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and other cancers affecting bones, can result in excess blood calcium and a diagnosis of hypercalcemia. Disease processes in the bone cause it to release calcium into the bloodstream. Cancers involving the lung, head, neck, or gastrointestinal tract are also frequently linked to hypercalcemia. Compounds in tumors can affect organs, such as the parathyroid glands, resulting in a protein that releases calcium from bones. Tumors involving the kidneys can also result in poor filtration of urine and a resulting build-up of blood levels of calcium. In addition, nausea, vomiting, and dehydration from medications or the disease itself reduce the ability of the kidneys to excrete calcium, resulting in hypercalcemia.

Keep reading to reveal the next cause of hypercalcemia.