There has to be a balance of everything in our bodies. For instance, like the calories we intake and calories we burn, there has to be a water balance in our bodies.

When your body uses or loses water more than it intakes, it can’t perform routine functions. This is medically known as dehydration.

You might even not know you are dehydrated for a long time because your body will give out symptoms when it is too late. Prolonged dehydration is linked to seizures, urinary and kidney problems, and low blood volume shock.

Here’s an informative blog on dehydration, its causes, symptoms, and prevention.

What is Dehydration?

Water is your body’s best friend. It does some incredible functions like:

• Maintaining the body’s temperature,
• Protects organs and tissues,
• Lubricates joints,
• It helps the kidney and liver to flush out toxins and much more.

When your body doesn’t have enough water, it doesn’t perform these functions properly. It is where your body gets dehydrated and needs your attention.

Dehydration meaning is simple; not having enough water in the body.

Depending upon how much fluid is missing in your body, you can have mild, moderate or severe dehydration. When your body loses fluids and electrolytes that can affect your heartbeat, muscle contraction, heart issues and blood PH levels.

Here, it becomes crucial to understand dehydration causes and dehydration symptoms before knowing about its treatment or prevention.

Dehydration Causes

Usually, your body loses water when you cry, sweat, pee, poop or breathe. This volume is replaced by fluids you take in the form of water and food items that contain water. 

If you don’t consume enough fluids, your body will get dehydrated. Moreover, in everyday life, you can get dehydrated because of not drinking enough water because:

• You were busy,
• You forgot to drink,
• You weren’t thirsty,
• You were sick,
• You are out somewhere, etc.

In other following cases, your body will lose more than usual water like

• Fever
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Excess Sweating
• Frequent urination due to diabetes or some pills.

Apart from these causes, the odds of dehydration increase in

• Babies
• Children
• Older People
• Sick People, etc.

This is it. There are more than one dehydration causes that can affect you. Let’s quickly jump to its symptoms to stay one step ahead of it.

Dehydration Symptoms

Feeling thirsty is one of the first and early symptoms of dehydration. However, older people don’t feel thirsty most time. Here, it becomes vital to notice dehydration symptoms and take action.

Symptoms of dehydration are as follows:

Apart from these, you can also experience a dry tongue. Some symptoms are specific to dehydration in babies, like crying with no tears, no wet diaper for three hours, irritability, etc.

You should contact an expert if you

• If you have had diarrhea for more than a day.
• If you are excessively tired or not active as usual.
• Have dark or bloody stool.

If you experience any such symptoms, you can contact Medpho 24/7 and get free teleconsultations with #BasEkCall at 88569-88569.

Prevention Tips For Dehydration

The best dehydration treatment or prevention is to drink enough fluids and food items rich in water content. If you are busy or forget to drink water on most days, you can set water drinking reminders on your phone.

In other cases, you should stay hydrated under the following conditions:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Fever
• Extreme hot or cold weather
• Before any activity or exercise

Dehydration Treatment

Before beginning treatment, your doctor will advise a blood test or urinalysis to confirm the diagnosis and pinpoint the dehydration degree. 

Once it is known, the treatment of dehydration becomes easy. You will have to:

• Rehydrate by drinking enough water. However, in other cases, when regular rehydration isn’t possible, you will be given fluid intravenously.
• Drink an electrolyte drink.
• Avoid alcohol, soda, overly sweet drinks, and caffeine as these drinks worsen dehydration.

Conclusion

Dehydration is not a severe health issue, but it definitely needs your attention. If not taken care of, dehydration can cause complications like heat cramps, heat strokes, coma, kidney failure, seizures, etc.

The best way to prevent dehydration is to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water a day. Moreover, if you are sick, pay close attention to your fluid intake to stay hydrated.

For any information related to free surgery under Ayushman Yojana or any queries regarding Ayushman Bharat Yojana, Contact Medpho on #BasEkCall at 88569-88569.