Dehydration can not be attributed to an independent disease, in most cases this is the end result of any serious pathology. There is always a risk of such a problem, regardless of gender and age. Dehydration, or dehydration, is the loss of a significant amount of fluid by the body, which can lead to serious consequences in the future. As you know, the human body consists of water at seventy percent. If it leaves the body, it is easy to guess that the process negatively affects health. As a result, malfunctions in the work of internal organs and the body as a whole are observed. Metabolism suffers greatly, and the pathology develops very quickly. Therefore, you need to know about effective ways to treat dehydration in order to prevent complications.
Why is such a process developing?
As already noted, water makes up the vast majority of the human body. Fluid is necessary not only for digestion and lubrication of joints, but also to remove unwanted products, toxins and toxins from the body. Without enough water, it becomes difficult to breathe, because the lungs constantly need moisturizing in order to be saturated with oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. If the liquid ceases to enter the body, a person can live from three to ten days, depending on the state of health, physical activity and ambient temperature.
Dehydration leads to death, regardless of the weather. If a person loses a large amount of water in a short period of time, and then begins to replenish supplies too intensely, there is a likelihood of puffiness. This situation is also unfavorable and can lead to irreversible consequences.
Consider the main causes of dehydration:
- profuse sweating, slight water intake;
- severe vomiting, frequent urination, heat stroke;
- diabetes mellitus, Addison's disease.
One interesting fact should be noted: body temperature and dehydration are interconnected. If the first indicator rises due to a certain kind of disease, fluid loss increases.
Classification
In medicine, there are three main types of fluid loss, depending on its nature:
- Isoosmolar. Here, dehydration occurs simultaneously with the loss of electrolytes through the digestive system, respiratory system and skin. Such dehydration is characteristic of infectious diseases and the presence of multiple lesions with bleeding.
- Hypersmolar. In this case, the loss of water exceeds the loss of electrolytes. Accordingly, the signs of dehydration of the human body will be slightly different compared to the first type. Dehydration is characteristic when there is insufficient fluid intake associated with dietary features.
- Hypoosmolar. Contrary to the previous type: electrolytes are lost more than liquid. The loss mainly passes through the gastrointestinal tract, skin and kidneys.
In all situations without exception, the patient needs urgent medical care, sometimes even in the intensive care unit.
Dehydration Degrees
The ailment under consideration often develops in cases where a low level of fluid intake is recorded. The threshold is determined in comparison with the excreted urine and sweat. If the last indicator exceeds the first, then we can safely say that there is a serious problem.
Specialists distinguish several main degrees:
- mild, when the rate of water loss does not exceed three percent and, in fact, does not pose a threat to human health;
- medium degree - about six percent of the liquid is lost here, which provokes small problems;
- severe degree - we can talk about significant damage to health, because the rate of fluid loss here is about nine percent;
- critical degree - loss is equal to ten percent or more, which in most cases leads to death.
Signs of dehydration in an adult appear differently depending on the type and severity of the disease. Of course, in the first stage of the symptoms, almost no one will notice. And if we talk about a critical degree, then sometimes you just can’t do anything.
Signs of dehydration
The first signal that not everything is in order in the body is the appearance of thirst. Usually, with such an ailment, a person wants to drink constantly, which directly indicates a shortage of water. An even more accurate measure of fluid level is the amount and color of urine. In the case of a small emitted volume and the presence of a dark yellow shade, there is a high probability of a lack of fluid.
The main signs of dehydration are:
- feeling of constant thirst, dry mouth and throat;
- a similar situation, meaning dryness, is associated with the skin, tongue and mucous membranes;
- persistent headaches and dizziness;
- viscous saliva, impaired urination, loss of appetite;
- psychological problems, expressed in causeless fears, unjustified loss of mood, irritability, nervousness;
- distracted attention, general weakness in the body, loss of strength;
- pain in joints and muscles, internal organs, the presence of seizures;
- feeling of lack of air, periodically the client begins to suffocate, the voice changes to a quieter and hoarse, the upper and lower extremities are numb, the body temperature and blood pressure drop significantly.
If you ignore the above symptoms, complications may develop. Among the most common are cerebral edema, hypovolemic shock, loss of electrolytes leads to seizure. If everything is sad, then comes coma and death.
Dehydration in a child
Losing a significant amount of fluid is a dangerous situation for adults and the elderly, and for children it automatically becomes a life-threatening situation. Here, all the attention of parents should be riveted to the child. Dad and mother are required to observe the baby, notice changes in appearance, etc. Dehydration of the body in a child, as well as in an adult, can lead to death.
Particular attention should be paid to the manifestation of symptoms. In children, in the first place, with loss of fluid, it exhibits dry mouth and a lethargic general condition. A rather remarkable sign is the absence of tears when crying. In addition, the child often refuses to eat, he loses his appetite, urination becomes rare, a small amount of fluid comes out. Symptoms include a rapid pulse and fever. If there are signs, you can make a preliminary conclusion about the presence of the disease.
Therapy should be prescribed as soon as possible in order to quickly begin its implementation. If you find signs of water loss in the body, you need to immediately call an ambulance and wait for the arrival of qualified doctors.
Diagnostics
After the patient fell into the hands of specialists, they begin a study to identify the ailment. To begin with, an anamnesis and external examination of the patient are performed. Already at this stage, doctors may suspect the presence of fluid loss. The most characteristic external signs of dehydration in an adult are sunken eyes and reduced elasticity of the skin. Questioning a patient in a question and answer format is also very informative.
In the process of communication, the doctor receives information about the frequency of urination and the amount of fluid secreted, which is very important. Then the specialist measures blood pressure and heart rate. At this stage, it is already possible to confirm the diagnosis of dehydration.
Sometimes even after determining the problem, the doctor prescribes additional measures to identify the severity of the disease. They proved to be quite effective: laboratory blood tests, urinalysis and ultrasound examination of the kidneys. If there is a suspicion of diabetes, the doctor may prescribe other tests. What to do with dehydration?
Therapy of ailment
The main goal of treatment in this case will be to get rid of symptoms and restore normal fluid levels. If all the signs directly indicate a mild severity of the problem, you can handle it yourself. This does not mean that you do not need to go to the doctor. Just in the presence of a slight deviation, it will be effective to treat the dehydration of the body at home.
All actions must be coordinated with the therapist or performed in his presence. The following items are mandatory:
- need to place the patient in a calm and quiet place with access to fresh air;
- slowly, in small portions, give water until the normal condition is fully restored, over time, all symptoms will disappear;
- if overheating has caused a loss of a significant amount of water, it is necessary to raise the patient's legs with a pillow;
- an excellent solution would be to apply cold compresses to the forehead, arms and body;
- You can use a fan or air conditioning for more cooling.
It must be remembered that with a mild degree of fluid loss, it must be replenished to a normal state. If the case is more severe, it is better not to do anything before the doctors arrive.
What to drink when such a problem occurs?
In most cases, a significant amount of water is lost in the summer, during the hottest time of the year. Regardless of whether the adult or child is affected, you need to know what to drink. In order to stabilize the water-electrolyte balance, replenish salts and necessary microelements, salt solutions should be added to the water, you can drink them separately. Therefore, such developments are used to create drinks for athletes, this fluid is rich in minerals and vitamins.
Replenishing the missing amount of fluid in the body is called rehydration. What to drink with dehydration? It is quite effective to add solutions like rehydron or any other for rehydration to water. The following drugs showed excellent results: Orasan, Regidrar and Gastrolit. They are available in the form of powders for quick dissolution in liquids. Salt solution is done on its own: add a teaspoon of salt to the water, and you can drink it.
A small intermediate conclusion: if a slight degree of dehydration is detected, the main treatment will be drinking. Moreover, it makes sense to talk about the use of a large amount of liquid. The patient should convince himself of the following: you should not drink because you want, but because you need to.
An interesting fact: the higher the temperature of drinking water corresponds to the temperature of the human body, the faster the fluid is absorbed into the blood. The most effective treatment should be carried out using a solution of the right temperature. Dehydration in an adult, if the level of water deficiency has not reached a critical point, can be cured by taking the right action.
In a child, this kind of problem is handled in a similar way. It is necessary to carry out rehydration with saline solutions. If there is no way to do them, you can do with a sufficient amount of liquid in small portions throughout the day. The amount of shortage is calculated by the doctor when analyzing the symptoms. The goal of any therapy will be to eliminate the symptoms. A very small child needs to be given the missing fluid with a tube or syringe without a needle.
Effects
Dehydration, if supplemented by vomiting and diarrhea, leads to the loss of important electrolytes. Particle deficiency disrupts the movement of water from the space inside the cell into the bloodstream. Because of this, the volume of water is reduced even more.
With a fluid deficiency, the following consequences are possible:
- Fatigue. As you know, water is one of the most important components of energy, and its absence leads to a decrease in activity. The result is as follows: a person becomes lethargic, due to which the level of performance decreases.
- High blood pressure. Liquid connective tissue consists almost entirely of water. If a person is found to have dehydration, there is an increase in pressure on the heart, and blood pressure rises.
- Allergy and asthma. When there is a lack of fluid in the body, histamine tries to reasonably preserve the available reserves and distribute them in accordance with priorities. Dehydration significantly increases histamine production.
- Pain in the joints. Cartilage contains a large amount of water. Fluid is needed for the formation of intraarticular moisture, which is necessary for normal functioning. Accordingly, if there is not enough water, pain and discomfort in the joints appear.
- Weight gain. As already noted, the fluid is a conductor of nutrients to the cells, and it also helps to eliminate decomposition products. With a water shortage, the body is not able to eliminate toxins and toxins, they are deposited in fat cells, which increases the patient’s weight.
Forecast and Prevention
If treatment is started in a timely manner and the water-electrolyte balance is restored in a short time, the prognosis will be favorable. There are exceptions when they did not provide the necessary assistance on time, which led to the appearance of complications. Dehydration in an environment where there is no access to water is considered the most dangerous situation.
As for prevention, you need to consume a sufficient amount of fluid during the day. The development of pathology can only be prevented by treating various disorders, as well as timely therapy of intoxication. The main thing is to prevent a condition when a chronic fluid imbalance develops. Then it will be too late to change something, and it will be very difficult for the patient to return to his usual way of life. Therefore, it is so important to start treatment on time and continue to prevent such situations.