What is Dehydration?
Dehydration is the loss of too much body fluid.
What causes dehydration to happen?
- If you stop drinking water
- Repeated diarrhea, vomiting, sweating, or exercise
- By not drinking enough fluids to replenish loss of water
- By not having adequate daily water intake
What happens during dehydration?
- You may experience muscle cramps
- You may feel faint
- Severe dehydration may cause you to go into shock, which is a life-threatening condition
- Prior to going into shock, your body will reabsorb fluid from your blood and other body tissues. If you have become severely dehydrated, you no longer have enough fluid in your body to get blood to your organs and shock will occur
- For babies, small children, and older adults, watch for early symptoms, such as:
- The mouth and eyes may be drier than usual
- The urine may be darker
- The person may be cranky, tired, or dizzy
What increases the chance of dehydration?
- The person does not feel thirsty
- The person may have weakened kidneys that don’t work well
- A person choose not to drink because of the inability to control their bladders (incontinence)
- They may have physical problems which make it hard to drink or hold a glass
- Or, taking medicines that increase urine output
- If they are struggling financially and cannot eat and drink as needed
To best insure proper hydration, be sure to measure you daily water intake.
