Dehydration is probably one of the most avoidable conditions of the human body, yet it is a rather common occurrence. Dehydration is, simply put, the loss of more quantities of fluid from the body that the amount consumed – thus leading to a significant shortage in the fluid reserves of the body. What most people are unaware of is the fact that with the loss of water, the body is simultaneously losing some very important blood salts such as potassium and sodium. These are very important for the proper functioning of certain vital organs such as the heart, lungs and brain. While dehydration could be a condition on its own, it could also be caused as a result of suffering from some other medical condition such as cholera or dysentery. Since these conditions are very prevalent in some under developed countries, the mortality rates as a result of dehydration happen to be significantly higher in these regions. With the onset of dehydration, the affected individual will experience a prominent drying of the lips, excessive thirst as well as a drying of the membranes in the mouth. When the condition progresses to a more severe level, the patient will also experience sunken eyes.
Vitality in the skin is also lost to a point where it doesn’t bounce back as easily when it is pinched. as the condition worsens, the patient will show signs of cold hands and feet along with an increase in the heart rate and blue lips. The brain is also affected and causes the person to experience confusion and lethargy. This could also result in the death of the individual.
The first treatment option when dealing with someone suffering from dehydration is to give them as much water as possible. Considering that their water levels are lower than minimum, it is not going to be very hard to get them to drink huge quantities of it. Adding some salt to the water will help restore the salt reserves in the body as well and get the vital organs functioning better. Feed the patient a lot of foods like yogurt, mint, buttermilk and banana as it is known to be very beneficial when dealing with dehydration. Another very effective treatment option would be to drink a thoroughly prepared mixture of ½ a teaspoon of lemon juice, ½ a teaspoon of ginger juice and ¼ a teaspoon of pepper powder. When suffering from dehydration, avoid any intake of alcohol and caffeine as they are known to promote sweating, thereby causing more loss of the bodies fluids.