Phosphorus Imbalance and Role of Metabolic Disorder

Balancing nutrients in our bodies, naturally, can be challenging. When living with a metabolic disorder, such as adrenal insufficiency or diabetes, you may have found that your nutrient levels ebb and flow from one day to the next. In order to avoid long term health complications that are attributed to nutrient complications, it is important to seek medical attention from a healthcare provider who can detect, diagnose and balance those nutrient levels properly.

Phosphorus imbalance is a condition that is quite common but among patients with a metabolic disorder, especially in those with a thyroid complication, but is often not readily diagnosed. As phosphorus is vital to maintaining the hardness of the bones, it is important that your phosphorus levels be evaluated regularly and especially if you live with a thyroid complication or other metabolic syndrome.

Signs that your phosphorus levels may be unbalanced, include brittle bones, fatigue, poor metabolism and even complications with fatigue. To detect your levels of phosphorus, your doctor can simply run blood tests and then provide recommendations for boosting your phosphorus levels accordingly. In some individuals, this may require removing the parathyroid gland, utilizing medications to balance a metabolic disorder, or simply adding essential vitamins and nutrients through over-the-counter vitamin supplements.

Without proper rebalance of your phosphorus levels, you may be at-risk for easy bone breaks or bone fractures and, in some cases, for kidney complications including kidney failure. For this reason, once you have a phosphorus imbalance recognized, be sure to consult with a doctor to determine what health treatment is needed and then to also continue to have your phosphorus levels re-evaluated every six months. In doing so, you can alleviate some of the long term health complications that arise from this type of imbalance.

Keeping our bodies in a healthy balance is a daily challenge. If you are struggling with fatigue, slowed metabolism, and if you are at-risk for thyroid disorders or diabetes, be sure to ask your doctor to run a full vitamin and nutrient profile assessment as you may be deficient in phosphorus and require some additional treatment to restore a healthy internal balance.

Sources: The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3^rd ed., pp. 2888-2889.