Hypercalcemia facts for kids

Hypercalcemia is a health condition where there is too much calcium in your blood. Calcium is a super important mineral that helps your body in many ways. It builds strong bones and teeth, helps your muscles move, and keeps your heart beating correctly.

When you have too much calcium, it can make you feel unwell. You might feel nausea (like you need to throw up), have a stomach ache, feel constipation (trouble going to the bathroom), or be very thirsty. If the level of calcium gets really high, it can even make you feel confused or very tired.

What is Hypercalcemia?

Your body needs just the right amount of calcium to work properly. Most of the calcium in your body is stored in your bones. A small but very important amount is in your blood. This blood calcium helps your nerves send messages, your muscles contract, and your heart beat steadily.

When the calcium level in your blood goes above what is normal, it's called hypercalcemia. This can happen if your body takes too much calcium from your bones, absorbs too much from your food, or doesn't get rid of enough calcium through your kidneys.

Why Does It Happen?

Hypercalcemia is usually caused by one of two main reasons:

• Problems with your parathyroid glands: These are four tiny glands located in your neck, behind your thyroid gland. They make a hormone called parathyroid hormone (PTH), which controls the amount of calcium in your blood. If these glands become too active, they can make too much PTH, leading to high calcium levels. This is often due to a small, harmless growth on one of the glands.
• Certain types of cancer: Some cancers can cause hypercalcemia. This happens because cancer cells might produce substances that act like parathyroid hormone, or they might spread to bones and cause calcium to be released into the blood.

Sometimes, other health issues can also lead to hypercalcemia. These include conditions like Sarcoidosis or Tuberculosis, which can affect how your body handles calcium. Taking too much of certain vitamins or medicines can also sometimes cause it.

How Do Doctors Find and Treat It?

Doctors usually find hypercalcemia with a simple blood test that measures your calcium levels. If your levels are high, they will do more tests to find out why. These tests might include checking your parathyroid hormone levels or looking for other health problems.

Treating hypercalcemia depends on what is causing it and how severe it is.

• If it's a mild case, doctors might just watch it closely and suggest you drink more water.
• If it's caused by overactive parathyroid glands, surgery to remove the overactive gland can often fix the problem.
• If it's due to cancer, treating the cancer itself is the main way to lower calcium levels.
• Doctors might also give you medicines to help your body get rid of the extra calcium or to stop your bones from releasing too much calcium.

Images for kids

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  Micrograph of ovarian small cell carcinoma of the hypercalcemic type. H&E stain.

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  An Osborn wave, an abnormal EKG tracing that can be associated with hypercalcemia.

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  Trisetum flavescens (yellow oat grass)

See also

In Spanish: Hipercalcemia para niños