What is dehydration?
Dehydration simply means lack of hydration or water. Our human body is 60% water, and thus, when someone loses body fluid for sweating, sicknesses, or a scarce intake of water, the body becomes dehydrated. Due to dehydration, one will face problems in carrying out regular work.
How long does it take for a human to become dehydrated?
Dehydration is a result of the body’s lack of water. The amount of fluid missing from the body at what point decides the level of dehydration like mild dehydration, severe dehydration, isotonic dehydration, or extreme dehydration. There is no specific time limit set for a human body to get dehydrated. But babies and young children who are susceptible to diarrhea, vomiting, or high fever gets dehydrated faster. You may have noticed that when you have a fever, after some time you feel dryness in your mouth and that’s because you are dehydrated. Also, excessive sweating due to exercise or walking under the sun can make one dehydrated.
Could you cause someone to cry so much they dehydrate?
Well, crying is quite unlikely to dehydrate you unless you haven’t been drinking an adequate amount of water. But it works the other way round. If you notice that no tears coming out while you are crying – that might be a case of dehydration.
Which one is more painful – starvation or dehydration?
Starvation and dehydration both are equally harmful to the human body. But one cannot survive dehydration for longer. Without food, one may feel hungry, may feel the strange pain of starvation but after reaching a certain point that feeling of hunger goes away. On the other hand, without fluids or water, the body loses its ability to maintain the balance of potassium, sodium, calcium, and other electrolytes in the bloodstream and cells.
What are the symptoms of dehydration?
The common symptoms of dehydration are:
- Feeling thirsty
- Feeling tired
- Feeling dizzy
- Dry mouth, chapped lips, and dry eyes
- Strong smelling, dark yellow colored pee
- Peeing less than 4 times a day
In case one is suffering from severe dehydration there can be some more dehydration symptoms in addition to the preceding list:
- Faster heartbeat
- Faster breath
- Fainting
- Feeling sleepy yet lack of energy and a state of confusion
- Very dry skin and sunken eyes
Why does a massage result in dehydration?
You must have seen in movies or shows that the ladies enjoying a spa day or massage day are offered fluids. Well, do you know that’s not just a fancy way of treating but a necessity too? Massaging causes massive dehydration and that’s why drinking water pre, during, and post your massage session is important. The masseuse squeezes your muscles – right? And this process releases fluids from the tissues into the vascular system. That’s why refilling that lost water is necessary.
Signs of dehydration
The signs of dehydration are as follows:
- Thirst
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Dry mouth
- Dark yellow and strong-smelling pee
- Peeing less than 4 times a day
- Muscle cramps
- Feeling confused and lack of energy
- Feeling sleepy
- Very dry skin
Causes of dehydration
The major causes of dehydration are as follows:
- Excessive sweating (more than normal)
- Suffering from sicknesses like fever, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.
- Peeing much (due to diabetes or any other medicine)
- Not replacing the lost water in the body
- Forgetting to drink enough water due to busy schedule
- Not realizing that one is thirsty
- Not having access to potable water
- Not feeling to drink water while suffering from sore throat
Effects of dehydration
When your body is dehydrated, the following effects can be experienced:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Low Blood Pressure
- Feeling sleepy all the time but still not feeling refreshed
- Peeing much less
- Decreased skin elasticity
- Sunken eyes
- Looking dry and tired
- Dry mouth and mucous membranes like lips, nostrils, or gums
- Dark yellow, strong-smelling urine
And if this dehydration is not checked in time properly, it may lead to other complications like brain swelling, seizures, coma, kidney failure, and even death.
Types of dehydration
There are three main types of dehydration and they are explained below:
Isotonic Dehydration – It is the most common type of dehydration and refers to the loss of water and electrolytes in equal amounts.
Hypertonic Dehydration – This dehydration refers to loss of water only.
Hypotonic Dehydration – This type of dehydration refers to the loss of electrolytes only.
Home remedies for dehydration
Dehydration can be cured by consuming an adequate amount of water. Sipping water at regular intervals is suggested to overcome dehydration. Apart from water, consumption of these following things will also help you to cure dehydration. The home remedies for dehydration are – water, licorice, chamomile tea, bananas, yoghurt, coconut water, buttermilk, saltwater, ORS, and fruits & vegetables with lots of water like watermelon, cucumber, celery, broccoli, strawberry, etc.
Prevention of dehydration
If you want to prevent dehydration, then set a time alarm to remind you to drink an ample amount of water. Drinking water in adequate amounts assures you a hydrated body. Apart from water, try to consume all those fruits and vegetables with high water content like pineapples, peaches, melons, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, etc. In a nutshell, don’t skip the salad bowl and juice glasses ever. Also, try to avoid or limit your alcohol intake to prevent dehydration.
What can dehydration cause?
Things like excessive sweating (more than normal), suffering from sicknesses like fever, vomiting, diarrhea, etc., peeing much (due to diabetes or any other medicine), etc. can cause dehydration. Also, not replacing the lost water in the body, forgetting to drink the water due to a busy schedule, not realizing that one is thirsty, not having access to potable water, or not feeling to drink water while suffering from sore throat also lead to dehydration.
What to do for dehydration?
When you have fallen prey to dehydration, you can set everything right only by drinking enough water. Sipping water at regular intervals alongside consuming ORS, saltwater, bananas, yoghurt, chamomile tea, buttermilk, coconut water, etc. would save you. In the future also you can stay away from dehydration by drinking enough water, nurturing good life habits, eating the right things like water-rich fruits and vegetables, and avoiding things like cigarettes or alcohol.
