condition due to decreased dietary intake of potassium, as in starvation or failure to administer in intravenous solutions, or to gastrointestinal loss; severe potassium deficiency may produce muscular weakness and lead to paralysis and respiratory failure; muscular malfunction may result in hypoventilation, paralytic ileus, hypotension, muscle twitches, tetany, and rhabomyolysis; nephropathy from potassium deficit impairs the concentrating mechanism.