Wednesday, August 27, 2014

How to Get Rid of Dehydration

How to Get Rid of Dehydration
Our body is mainly made-up of fluid; in fact, more than 75 percent of our body weight is water.  The body’s main source of this very important substance comes from the digestive system through oral ingestion.  It is excreted from the body via various routes; our skin (through perspiration), respiratory system (humidified air coming inside the lungs), urinary system (in the form of urine) and even the digestive system itself (in the form of stool).  The ingestion and excretion of this substance must be maintained in a well balanced state at all times to prevent any problem.  Dehydration results from the dominance of water excretion over water ingestion.


Assess for dehydration
First, you must establish the presence of a problem; in this case, determine if there is really dehydration.  Dehydration manifests itself in many obvious ways.  Fever is observed in many patients, but the increase in temperature in dehydration is not associated with any other cause like infection.  Check for drop in blood pressure.  Loss of water results to decreased water content inside the blood vessels and since the amount of fluid in the blood vessels is directly proportional to the blood pressure, a significant fluid loss found in dehydration greatly decreases the person’s blood pressure.  The dropping of blood pressure is accompanied with increased heart rate and breathing, as a compensatory mechanism of the blood to delivery adequate oxygen throughout the body.  The skin a great indicator of fluid status; check the skin’s elasticity.  Pinch the membrane over the arms or abdomen, if it goes back to its normal position longer than two seconds, you are dehydrated.  Sunken eyeball also indicates increased fluid loss.  If you are suspecting dehydration from an infant, check his cranial fontanel, if it is depressed then suspect for dehydration.


Rehydrate
Providing fluid is the only cure to dehydration.  Since dehydration means that the body fluid goes critically below than the normal range, the most important thing to do is to replace the lost water in order for its level to go back to its normal level.  Oral rehydration is the most convenient way to rehydrate a person.  However, if dehydration is accompanied with vomiting and unconsciousness, giving water via the intravenous route is the best choice.  It is important to know that intravenous rehydration is only performed by trained professionals because of the risks it brings.


Hospitalization
Mild dehydration can be managed at home, however for patients having moderate and severe cases, hospitalization is necessary.  This medical problem is very fatal because it has greatly decreases the distribution of oxygen into the vital organs, resulting to malfunctions eventually leading to death.  Furthermore, rehydration via the intravenous route is ideal done inside the hospital.



Avoid certain foods
The primary cause of this problem is diarrhea.  If you found out that the cause of the dehydration is diarrhea, avoid ingesting certain food products that can cause diarrhea.  These include milk and other dairy products, fatty foods, high fiber fruits, beers and sweets.  The fruits mentioned above can irritate the intestines thus making the digestive system work faster than the usual rate, causing diarrhea.


Electrolyte replacement
Dehydration is commonly accompanied by electrolyte imbalance, usually with potassium and sodium.  The imbalance is caused by the excretion of fluid that contain with dissolved matter.  This problem is easily solved in minor cases.  The tap water and IV fluids contain these substances and certain energy drinks such as Gatorade have abundant amounts of electrolytes to replace what was lost.




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