Dehydration

What is Dehydration?

Dehydration is defined as excess loss of fluids from the body and can affect any age group or population. Dehydration can lead to various health related problems and can be life threatening too.

Our body constitutes of nearly sixty percent of water and it is vital to all of our physical functions. To function properly, our body needs certain amount of fluid intake daily.

Inability to drink healthy amounts of fluids is among potential causes for dehydration. Moreover, dehydration treatment and fluid requirements can vary with age, health, activity and climate.

Causes of Dehydration

Dehydration can be caused due to various factors. Due to this very reason treatment for dehydration are often decided after determining the type of water loss in the patient.

One of the basic causes of dehydration is not drinking enough amount of water which is required or neglecting to drink the required quantity.

List of dehydration causes:

Digestion

This is the most energy consuming process in the body requiring large amount of water daily. If enough water is not taken to aid digestion, it may result in dehydration.

Sweat

A hard work out or warm weather can deplete water from your body faster through sweating.

Stress

Promotes hectic activity and this burns up vital fluids from your body.

Fever

Sweating is common in fevers and body temperatures run high causing scarcity of water in your body.

Diarrhea

This can cause serious dehydrated condition through watery or loose stools.

Vomiting

A lot of fluid is thrown out when vomiting and this leads to water imbalance in your body.

Medications

A common side effect of many medications is they lead to an increase in urination. This causes loss of vital fluids from your body.

Other factors that can be probable cause of dehydration; breathing, aging, obesity, dieting, pregnancy, excess salt intake, infections, water and food contamination, burns, weather, high altitude and exposure to sun.

Symptoms of Dehydration

Mild dehydration symptoms can be seen in the form of a headache but severe dehydration can lead to development of shock. Surprising as it may seem, you may suffer from dehydration and be unaware of the symptoms.

One easy way to self diagnose dehydration is to check for the color of your urine which should be clear or be a very light shade of yellow.

If the color shows any shade of darkness, your water intake should increase. These serious conditions need immediate medical care otherwise they may result in coma or death of the victim.

Treatment for Dehydration

Many people suffer from mild dehydration and are ignorant about it due to lack of information about ways of preventing dehydration.

Drinking fluids is advised to keep mild dehydration at bay. It is advisable to take small amounts of fluid at intervals instead of drinking large amounts at a time.

Try to spend time indoors in hot weather, stay away from extended exposure to the sun. Fluid intake should be encouraged during illness as the need for fluid increases during ailments and diseases.

Things you need to do for preventing dehydration:

• Avoid tight and heavy clothes, give preference to light clothing.
• Avoid exposing yourself to direct sunlight for an extended period.
• Don’t do strenuous exercises and activities in hot climatic conditions.

During treatment for dehydration you should stay away from dehydrating beverages like coffee, tea, soft drinks and hard drinks.