A toddler in Africa travels to a remote area with no access to clean drinking water. He drinks sewage water and soon develops severe diarrhea and dies 10 days later of cardiac arrest. Explain the possible physiological cause(s) of his death.
 

Answer:

Cardiac arrest after diarrhea

Diarrhea causes loss of both the water and electrolytes. The normal potassium levels are, 3.5 – 5.0 meq/L (milliequivalents per liter). The condition in which the potassium levels below 3.5 meq/L is called, “hypokalemia.”

The decreased concentration of potassium in the body than the normal values is known as “hypokalemia.” It occurs due to potassium deficiency, which can result from prolonged diarrhoea, vomiting, hypersecretion of aldosterone and excessive use of laxatives. Hypokalemia causes membrane hyperpolarization, so that the action potential generation become difficult, which causes cardiac arrhythmias and muscle weakness. In the given case, low potassium levels caused by diarrhea lead to cardiac arrest and death.