Risk of dehydration
Dehydration is sometimes associated with heatstroke or hot summer day. Actually it can happen due to a number of reasons e.g vomiting and diarrhea. Diseases in the gastrointestinal tract can also cause dehydration. What is commonly important is the fact that when the body loses large quantities of water, it also loses essential minerals called electrolytes. Our body can be seriously impaired without enough water and electrolytes.
What is dehydration. Dehydration can be recognized as the excessive loss of water from the body. It is potentially life-threatening, and requires early recognition and treatment.
Infants and children are more vulnerable to dehydration than adults due to their lower body weights and higher turnover of water and electrolytes. The elderly and those with illnesses are also at higher risk.
Symptoms. It is better to know the symptom earlier before the problem gets severe. The most apparent indicator of dehydration is rapid loss of body weight. When associated with certain illness, this symptom might be easily distinguishable from the effect of illness itself. In that case another signs can be a better hint: dry mouth,increasing thirst, weakness or lightheadedness,
darkening of the urine, or a decrease in urination.
Treatment. Dehydration can be treated by restoring the lost fluids and electrolytes. Research has shown that early use of an oral electrolyte solution (such as Pedialyte, Lytren or Infalyte) is the best treatment. If a child has been vomiting, it's a good idea to wait a moment after the last episode before attempting rehydration. Then give a small volume of oral electrolyte solution -60 to 90 ml (2-3 ounces) every thirty to forty minutes, until the child seems stable enough to accept plain foods. Occasionally, children who don't respond to oral electrolyte solution need to
be hospitalized and given intravenous fluids.
Photo by Vince
Heatstroke 101
Heatstroke is one of heat-related problems caused by prolonged exposure to hot temperatures. It is similar to heat cramps or heat exhaustion that typically happens to people working in hot environments with limited fluid intake. This illness affects all ages, but most common in the elderly. People with the obesity problem and people born with impaired ability to sweat are at high risk of heatstroke. Other risk factors include cardiovascular disease, dehydration, alcohol use, chronic illness, diabetes and a certain medication.
When temperature regulation mechanism in the brain is lost, the heatstroke become more severe and life threatening. The primary sign of heatstroke is a substantial increase in body temperature (up to 104 degree F) accompanied by changes in mental status leading to confusion and coma. When you are working outside on a very hot summer day, watch out for the following symptoms of heatstroke:
- Sudden dizziness, weakness, faintness and headache
- Skin that is hot and dry
- No sweating
- High body temperature
- Rapid heartbeat and breathing
- Muscle cramps
- Elevated or lower blood pressure
- Irritability or unstable mental status
Healthy travel plan
Travels which dramatically shifts your routine (sleep pattern, meal times, exercise amount) can drain your stamina and affect your health.
The change in time zones further forces the body to readjust to different sleeping hours. Worse, traveling also often means extra treats for many in terms of ordering rich meals.
Combined with a lost in exercise time, all those factor can lead travelers put an extra weight upon their return to home.
Below are suggested plan for a healthy travel next time:
- Try whenever possible, especially on air travel, to order a vegetarian,
fruit plate, low-cholesterol menus from the airline. - Eat light on your travel day
- Plan to bring enough beverages as travel is a dehydrating experience
- Avoid alcoholic drink as it is a diuretic which adds to dehydration
- Plan on eating healthy snack to top up your energy. Dried fruit, bagels, whole-grain crackers, or small can of fruits would just do the job
- Plan ahead to adjust your sleeping pattern to match the shifting time zone
