CHECK-UP:Rehydration is imperative when one suffers severe fluid loss, writes Marion Kerr
How do you know if a person is dehydrated?
The human body loses water naturally through evaporation from the skin and in the air exhaled from the lungs. It also leaves the body through urine, tears and bowel motions.
Under normal circumstances, fluid and the salts it contains are replaced through a normal diet. However, adults and children can lose abnormally large amounts of water and salts when ill.
Fever, vomiting, diarrhoea or intense physical exercise can all cause dehydration. It can also occur when the ill person is unable to take fluids orally. Signs of dehydration include a dry sticky mouth, dry skin, lethargy or irritability.
Fatigue and dizziness may also be experienced. You may notice that the person's eyes appear sunken while in infants the fontanelle - the soft spot on top of the skull - may be depressed.
Dehydration can cause the production of urine to be reduced or to cease completely. What urine is produced may be dark yellow in colour.
I find it difficult to get my kids to drink when they are sick. Have you any advice on how to approach this problem?
When a child is unwell or in pain they can be reluctant to drink. Pain relief, using a preparation specifically for children, may help reduce the discomfort. Give your child cold drinks or get them to suck on ice-pops - a good way of soothing the pain of a sore throat while also providing fluids.
It can be difficult to get a small child or baby to drink when their nose is blocked. Try using steam or mild saline drops to help unblock the nose which should make it easier for them to swallow.
A child with mild gastroenteritis, resulting in nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, may be reluctant to drink. However, it is important that they be encouraged to take frequent, small amounts orally. In more serious illnesses where fluids are lost quicker than they can be replaced, it can result in severe dehydration.
This condition requires immediate medical attention and requires oral rehydration to replace the lost fluids over the course of a couple of hours. This can usually be achieved using special oral preparations containing the fluids and salts needed by the body.
If a child or adult is unable to be orally rehydrated then treatment with intravenous fluids will have to be administered in hospital.
Dehydration
What water does in the body
• Moistens tissues such as those in the mouth, eyes and nose.
• Protects body organs and tissues.
• Helps prevent constipation.
• Helps dissolve minerals and other nutrients to make them accessible to the body.
• Regulates body temperature.
• Lessens the burden on the kidneys and liver by flushing out waste products.
• Lubricates joints.
• Carries nutrients and oxygen to cells.