Dehydration: symptoms, causes, treatment, etc. & bull; hello healthy

Definition

What is dehydration?

Dehydration is a condition in which the body loses more fluid than the fluids that enter the body.

Each day, the body's water content decreases with exhaled breath, in sweat, urine, and feces. If you don't provide enough water or fluids to replace lost fluids, you can become dehydrated.

This imbalance also disrupts the levels of salt, minerals, and sugar in the blood. This can interfere with bodily functions and cause dangerous complications if not treated immediately.

One of the main causes of this condition in infants and children is diarrhea and vomiting. Other health problems, such as chronic diseases, can also cause this condition to occur in adults.

How common is dehydration?

This condition is very common. This condition can occur in patients of any age. However, cases of incidence are more common in infants, children and the elderly.

Dehydration is a health condition that can be treated by controlling the existing risk factors. To find out more information about this condition, you can consult a doctor.

Signs & symptoms

What are the signs and symptoms of dehydration?

The signs and symptoms of dehydration generally vary from person to person. However, most people complain of extreme thirst, dizziness, and dry mouth.

The following are the most common signs and symptoms:

• Feeling very thirsty
• The mouth feels dry or sticky
• Less urine than usual
• Dark colored urine, tend to be dark yellow
• Dizziness or headache
• Muscle cramps in certain body parts

In more severe cases, sufferers will experience the following symptoms:

• Dark urine
• Very dry skin
• Severe headache
• The heart beats faster or is irregular
• Irregular breathing
• Eyes look gloomy, like lack of sleep
• The body lacks energy
• Confusion
• Easy to pass out

In children and infants, signs and symptoms include:

• Dry mouth and tongue
• Do not come out of tears when crying
• The diaper remains dry after 3 hours
• The face looks pale, especially on the eyes and cheeks
• Fussy and easy to cry
• Limp body

There may be signs and symptoms not listed above. If you have concerns about a particular symptom, consult your doctor.

When should I see a doctor?

Dehydration can usually be treated easily, by drinking lots of fluids. However, if any of the following symptoms occur, immediately contact your doctor or medical team:

• Fever
• Diarrhea for more than 2 days
• Urine production is drastically reduced, or even absent
• Confusion
• Weakened body
• Can't concentrate
• Fainting
• Chest or stomach pain

If you have a severe enough condition, especially if you cannot receive fluids due to continuous vomiting, you will need to get additional fluids through an IV.

Sometimes, dehydration is a sign of a more serious health problem, such as diabetes. Therefore, it is important to see a doctor so that the exact cause can be identified.

If you have any signs or symptoms above or any other questions, please consult your doctor.

Each sufferer's body shows signs and symptoms that vary. To get the most appropriate treatment and according to your health condition, check any symptoms you are experiencing to the doctor or the nearest health service center.

Cause

What causes dehydration?

Under normal conditions your body will lose fluids through sweating and urinating. However, if the lost fluids are not replaced immediately, you will become dehydrated.

Sometimes, dehydration is the simple reason you are not getting enough fluids. This could be due to busyness or you are sick.

In addition, other factors such as weather, physical activity, and certain diets can also cause your body to become dehydrated.

The following are common causes of this condition:

1. Excessive sweating

Sweating is a normal body metabolic process. When your body temperature increases, the sweat glands will actively evaporate water from your body to make it cooler.

When sweat evaporates from the body, less heat is generated. The more sweat you sweat, the greater the evaporation, so your body generates more heat. The sweating process helps moisturize the skin and balance the electrolytes in the body.

If fluids are excreted when the body sweats too much, it can lead to dehydration. This condition of excessive sweating is called hyperhidrosis.

2. Diarrhea

Diarrhea is a condition in which the feces or feces that are passed out have a more liquid form. This condition can occur more than 3 times a day.

Diarrhea is usually caused by a temporary health condition, such as a bacterial infection, virus, certain food reactions, or a digestive tract disease.

This condition can lead to dehydration because too much body fluids are wasted.

3. Certain diseases

If you suffer from certain diseases, you will vomit or have diarrhea continuously. This makes the body release too much fluid.

Your body is also likely to lose a lot of electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals that are used by the body to control muscles, chemicals in the blood, and organ function. Electrolytes are commonly found in body fluids, such as blood or urine.

One of the diseases that will cause you to vomit and have frequent diarrhea is gastroenteritis. This condition is very common in babies and children.

In addition, there are certain diseases that make it difficult for you to eat or drink, so that your body lacks fluid intake. Some of these include canker sores (stomatitis) and laryngitis (pharyngitis).

4. Fever

When you have a fever, your body will sweat more often so that your body temperature drops quickly.

Often a person with a fever does not realize that his body is losing too much fluid, especially if he does not drink immediately to replace lost fluids.

5. Urinate too often

Urinating is also the body's natural process of getting rid of toxins. In some conditions, urinating too much can result in a chemical imbalance in the body.

If lost fluids are not replaced by drinking, dehydration may occur.

One disease that causes sufferers to urinate excessively is diabetes insipidus. This disease is caused by problems with the kidneys, so that sufferers have difficulty holding back the urge to urinate.

In normal people, the urine excreted is only around 1-2 liters per day. People with diabetes insipidus can pass 3-20 liters of urine a day.

6. Burns

In cases of severe burns, blood vessels can be damaged. This has the potential to cause body fluids to leak into the surrounding tissues, so that dehydration can occur.

In more severe cases, if the burn sufferer does not get replacement fluids immediately, the kidneys will fail to function and develop hypovolemic shock due to the loss of too much fluid.

Risk factors

What factors increase my risk for dehydration?

Dehydration is a health condition that can occur in almost anyone, regardless of age and racial group. However, there are several factors that can increase a person's risk for developing this condition.

It is important for you to know that having one or more risk factors does not mean that you will definitely suffer from a disease or health condition.

In some rare cases, it is possible for a person to develop certain diseases or health conditions without any risk factors.

The following are risk factors that can trigger a person to become dehydrated:

1. Age

This condition is more common in infants and young children. Babies have a higher risk due to their low body weight. This makes their bodies more sensitive to conditions of fluid loss, even if only a little.

In addition, babies and children are more prone to diarrhea, vomiting and fever, which makes it easier for their bodies to lose a lot of fluids.

Not only babies and children, elderly people also have a high risk of experiencing this condition. As you age, your body's ability to store fluids decreases and the thirst you feel decreases.

This can be exacerbated by the presence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and dementia, because older people may forget or not realize they need to drink fluids.

2. Suffering from certain diseases

People with chronic diseases that make it difficult for the body to control the urge to urinate are also at risk for this condition. Some of these diseases include diabetes and kidney disease.

In addition, suffering from minor illnesses such as fever and sore throat can also increase your risk because you may eat, drink less, and vomit and sweat more frequently.

3. People who work or often do outdoor activities

If you have a job or a lot of outdoor activities, especially if you live in a hot weather environment, your chances are greater.

Athletes, especially in endurance events such as marathons, triathlons and tournaments, may be affected by the amount of body fluids lost through sweating.

People in professions who perform strenuous work, such as construction workers, are regularly exposed to sunlight, and lose a lot of fluids from sweating.

4. Lack of access to clean drinking water

Some areas still have access to drinkable water sources that are clean and safe for consumption. This can increase the body's risk of lack of adequate fluid intake.

Complications

What are the health complications that can occur due to dehydration?

Untreated dehydration can lead to serious health complications, such as:

1. Heat injury

If you do strenuous activity and you don't immediately replace lost body fluids, you are at risk heat injury .

These conditions can vary from mild cramps to severe overheating (heat exhaustion), until heat stroke the severe one.

2. Urinary and kidney problems

If dehydration occurs too often or lasts long enough, there may be urinary tract infections, kidney stones, and even kidney failure.

3. Low blood volume

If the body lacks fluids, blood volume will decrease drastically. This has the potential to cause life-threatening hypovolemic shock.

4, Seizures

Electrolytes, such as potassium and sodium, help cells work to carry the body's electrical signals.

If there is an imbalance in the body's electrolytes, there will be problems with the body's electrical signals, so that the muscles will experience spasm. In severe cases, you may pass out.

Diagnosis & treatment

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

How is dehydration diagnosed?

In diagnosing, the doctor will first ask about the signs and symptoms that you are experiencing. After that, the doctor will perform several tests to get an accurate diagnosis:

1. Physical examination

The doctor will check several important things on your vital organs, such as your heart rate and blood pressure.

Low blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat may indicate that you are dehydrated. In addition, the doctor will also check for other signs, such as fever.

2. Blood test

The doctor will also do blood tests to find out the levels of electrolytes in your blood. An imbalance in electrolyte levels can indicate a body lack of fluids.

Apart from electrolytes, the doctor will also check the creatinine level in the blood. Knowing your creatinine levels can help your doctor detect any problems with your kidney function.

3. Urinalysis

Urinalysis is a test that is done to check a sample of your urine. Through this test, the doctor can detect the presence of bacteria or electrolyte imbalance.

More yellowish and concentrated urine can also show signs of a lack of fluid intake.

To determine dehydration in babies, doctors usually examine the tenderness of the skull, sweating, and certain muscle characteristics.

How to treat dehydration?

Treatment depends on the patient's age, severity, and cause. However, the most effective way to deal with dehydration is to replace lost fluids in the body.

For babies and children who develop this condition due to diarrhea, vomiting, or fever, you can use an over-the-counter rehydration solution without a doctor's prescription. This fluid contains water and salt at a certain dose to restore fluids and electrolytes to the body.

You can give your baby or toddler 5 ml of fluid every 5 minutes. For children who are a little older, you can give an electrolyte drink mixed with plain water.

You can also make this rehydrating solution at home using ½ teaspoon of salt, 6 teaspoons of sugar, and 1 liter of mixed water.

Make sure you avoid bottled juices or soft drinks to treat this condition as this will only worsen the symptoms.

If the case of dehydration is severe and your body cannot receive fluids by mouth, you should be taken to the hospital and receive fluids through an IV.

Home remedies

What are some lifestyle or home remedies that can be used to treat dehydration?

Here are lifestyle and home remedies that can help you treat or prevent dehydration:

• If you have a fever, make sure you drink plenty of fluids, especially if you experience symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
• If you begin to have difficulty drinking water, seek medical help immediately.
• Drink plenty of water before exercising or doing outdoor activities.
• Wear clothes with thin, breathable material, such as cotton.

If you have any questions, consult your doctor for the best solution to your problem.