Your Ultimate Valentine Beauty Guide
Beauty Boosting Foods
The Feel Good Guide
7 Deadly Beauty Sins
Tips To A Fitter You
Keep Yourself Hydrated This Summer
Eye Makeup Application Tips
Perfect Fitness Regime

Keep Yourself Hydrated This Summer

The scorching summer heat can lead to excessive loss of water from the body and cause dehydration. While several other causes lead to this condition, the fluid loss may even be severe enough to become life-threatening. Here we guide you on avoiding the effects of dehydration.

Scorching summer is here again. Dehydration and other heat-and-sun-related problems could easily disrupt your chores. Due to severe heat and sweating, your body tends to lose too much fluid and you end up with dehydration. This can even happen when you stop drinking water or lose a large amount of fluid vomiting or even following strenuous workouts. Dehydration is avoidable with proper prevention unless you become severely dehydrated and this can then turn into a life-threatening condition; it could turn dangerous for infants, children and senior citizens.

WHAT DEHYDRATION MEANS

Water forms the basis for all body fluids and is essential for transportation and absorption of nutrients and eliminates waste. You tend to lose around 2.5 litres of water simply by sweating and breathing and waste removal. Along with water, you lose electrolytes - minerals such as sodium, potassium and calcium - which help maintain the balance of fluids in your body. Even when you are active, you replenish the lost water and electrolytes through diet, foods and liquids. However, when you lose out on more water and electrolytes than you can replace, dehydration occurs.

Anyone can get dehydrated at any time. But worldwide, dehydration is the leading cause of death in infants and children. Also, as you age, you become more susceptible to dehydration than other age groups. Ageing reduces the body's ability to conserve water and lessens your thirst sense. Disability and neglect also prevent elders from being well nourished.

The problems get compounded because of menopause in women, chronic diseases or use of certain medications. With uncontrolled diabetes, kidney disease, cystic fibrosis, adrenal gland disorders, etc., you are more likely to get dehydrated. Even a cold or sore throat can make you more prone to dehydration.

Working, exercising or living at high altitudes - 2,400-3,600 metres or very high altitudes - 3,600-5,400 metres, can cause dehydration. The faster you breathe to maintain oxygen levels in your blood, the more water vapour you exhale. Athletes are prone to dehydration if they do not take in enough fluids. Your body can lose twice the amount of water during hot weather. And the fluid debt can then slowly pile up giving rise to dehydration, especially if you do not drink enough to replace your daily loss of fluids.

WHY WE GET DEHYDRATED

Dehydration can occur because of the following reasons.

- You are busy at work, you are sick or you have no access to potable water while traveling and your water or fluid intake is inadequate.
- Gastrointestinal illness - severe acute diarrhoea and vomiting.
- High fever.
- Excessive sweating - hot humid weather, playing sports, exercise, sweating in saunas.
- Dieting, dietary supplements, laxatives.
- Increased urination as in undiagnosed or uncontrolled diabetes. Medications such as diuretics, anti-histamines and blood pressure medications can also cause increased urination.
- Extensive burns cause fluid loss.
- Dry, re-circulated air in airplanes causes water to evaporate from your skin leading to dehydration.

RECOGNISE THE PROBLEM

- Are you feeling very tired, thirsty, dizzy, sleepy, weak and lightheaded?
- Do you have a dry or sticky mouth?
- Have you got a headache and muscle weakness?
- Has your urine output decreased? For infants, fewer than six wet diapers a day and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teenagers is a sign of danger.
- Low blood pressure could also indicate dehydration.

WHEN TO SEE A DOCTOR

Your doctor may suggest some blood tests, especially the levels of electrolytes - sodium and potassium - and tests to check your kidney function. The colour of your urine, the presence of ketones (carbon compounds) and the specific gravity of your urine - all help diagnose dehydration. You may even have to undergo tests for diabetes or liver or kidney problems.

Extreme fussiness or sleepiness in infants and children, irritability and confusion in adults, extreme thirst, a very dry mouth, no sweating, little or no urination, dark yellow or amber-coloured urine, sunken eyes, shrivelled skin, low blood pressure, rapid heart beat, fever, delirium, unconsciousness - are all signs when you need immediate medical care. You may need to receive fluids intravenously and hospital admission is a must in case of too much vomiting and diarrhoea or any other serious problems.

If neglected, dehydration can lead to serious complications such as heat injury that can give mild cramps to heat exhaustion to a life-threatening heatstroke. Cerebral oedema (swelling in the brain) can occur, if you lose too much fluid. Seizures and loss of consciousness are other complications. The most serious complication that can occur is hypovolemic shock, when low blood volume causes a drop in blood pressure with a reduced amount of oxygen reaching your tissues. Kidney failure is again potentially life-threatening. Severe dehydration can cause coma and even death.

TREATING DEHYDRATION

The effective treatment for dehydration is to replace the loss of fluids. The treatment, however, depends upon age, severity and cause.

FOR CHILDREN

1) An oral rehydration solution (ORS) is an effective way to treat infants and children who suffer from dehydration due to diarrhoea and/or vomiting. WHO-ORS has been developed by World Health Organisation to treat dehydration in children. The solution contains water, salt and sugar as main ingredients. Giving small amounts of the solution at frequent intervals will help replace the lost fluids.
2) Do not stop breast feeding when your baby is sick.
3) Avoid certain foods and drinks such as milk, sodas or gelatins, which do not relieve dehydration.

FOR ADULTS

1) Drink plenty of water. Lime juice with a little sugar and a pinch of salt could help.
2) Avoid beverages that contain caffeine such as coffee, tea or sodas.
3) For exercise-related dehydration, cool water, sports drinks containing electrolytes, rice water, etc. may help.

WHAT TO DO THIS SUMMER

1) Consume plenty of fluids and foods high in water such as fruits and vegetables.
2) Drink additional water in hot and humid weather to lower your body temperature.
3) If you feel the symptoms of dehydration, feel parched and dizzy, get into a shady area, recline and begin rehydration - start sipping water.
4) On a warm day, dress in cottons, wear loose-fitting clothes.
5) Cover your head with a cap, hat or an umbrella. This will keep you cooler and will cut down on sweating.