Dehydration
Did you know that if you're thirsty, you're already partially dehydrated?
Drink to prevent thirst, not to quench it.

With severe dehydration, call for emergency help: If you, your child, or someone you know has symptoms of severe dehydration (dry mouth, sunken eyes, reluctance to drink, inability to pass urine or cry tears, high fever, lethargy, confusion, cold hands and feet, rapid and weak pulse, rapid breathing, (in infants, a sunken fontanel) -- call for emergency help and have the person sip a electrolyte-replacement fluid (for babies or children, one that's made especially for them such as Pedialyte).

The Problem of Dehydration
How Dehydration Affects You and Your Children
The Benefits of Being Well-hydrated
Signs of Dehydration
Signs of Heat Cramps, Heat Exhaustion and Heatstroke
Links for More Information

The Problem of Dehydration:

Dehydration is a worldwide problem: It's our belief that most people in this world don't get nearly enough water to drink throughout the day. People most at risk:

People in countries with insufficient clean water to drink
Children who are old enough to talk but not old enough to understand about thirst
People who are relying on coffee, tea, soft drinks, juice, and alcohol (all dehydrators) for their liquid
New mothers -- especially nursing mothers
Athletes (athletes can easily burn through more water in their bodies than they replace)
People for whom physical labor is a large part of their daily routine
People whose work keeps them on the move and/or on their feet
People whose daily routine (or company policy) prevents them from keeping liquid nearby
People who are ill, feverish, vomiting, or who have diarrhea (especially people with weakened immune systems from illnesses such as cancer or AIDS)
Babies and children who aren't given enough liquid
People who are overheated and sweating profusely
Diabetics
Mentally or physically disabled children and adults
Seniors -- especially seniors in nursing homes and seniors who don't move around well
People with an eating disorder -- especially those using diuretics or laxatives
People who are abusing drugs or prescription medications
People eating an excessive amount of salt
People traveling, working or living in an arid, humid, hot, cold or high-altitude environment
Airplane travelers (airplane air dehydrates more quickly than outside air)


How Dehydration Affects You and Your Child:

How it affects you: Being well-hydrated is important to your physical and mental health. Dehydration makes a person tired, cranky, and stiff-jointed. Being dehydrated can bring on headaches, nausea, aches and cramps -- and other, more serious physical ailments. Dehydration can make it more difficult for parents to be patient with children and with each other. Severe dehydration can cause seizures, coma, or even death.

How it affects your child: The little ones, especially, forget to drink or to tell you that they need to drink. If you find the children getting peaked and cranky toward the afternoon, it might be because they're dehydrated. Common symptoms of dehydration are crankiness, headaches, aches in the joints and weariness. If your child says he/she is thirsty, don't make the child wait for liquid. Dehydration has already begun. Remember: severe dehydration can quickly kill a baby or child.

The benefits of being well-hydrated:

Have you heard the saying that 8 glasses of water a day helps keep your skin healthy? It's true, but there are other benefits to getting those 8 glasses or more:

Boosts physical and mental endurance.
Helps maintain a pleasant demeanor. Dehydrated adults and children tend to be irritable and/or lethargic.
Helps prevent muscle cramps in your legs, hands, and feet -- and achy stiffness in your joints.
Can prevent headaches. Are you prone to migraines, cluster headaches? Ask yourself how much water you drink in a day. If it isn't at least 48 ounces (preferably more), you might be dehydrated.
Some studies show hydration can decrease the risk of kidney stones and lower the risk of certain cancers by helping the body to flush out toxins.
Helps keep your digestive system working. Fluids soften the stools, making them easier to pass.
Helps prevent urinary tract infections by helping to flush away bacteria.
Helps keep pregnant women from being constipated -- and it can also help the body flush away excess fluid that can lead to bloating and edema (swelling).
Helps nursing women with milk production. If you are having a problem with milk supply, ask yourself how much water you're drinking.
Helps keep your eyes and skin moist and healthy. When the body is dehydrated, it looks for moisture from wherever it can find it -- including the eyes and skin.
Can help asthmatics breathe more efficiently, according to experts. Apparently, dehydration interferes with how well the lungs function (thereby increasing the likelihood of an asthma attack). http://www.saferchild.org/dehydrat.htm

[b] All I know is that there is plenty of documentation to support drinking plenty of water. I know when my dad had a kidney stone, the experts said that it only takes one time of becoming dehydrated and a stone can begin. I also have personal testimony that "I" need plenty of water for my system to function better. With muscle spasms, the muscles seem to burn up my body's fluid and will spasm worse if I don't stay hydrated. I have more lung issues if I don't keep hydrated. My digestive system works better than most, and I attribute it to increased water intake (as opposed to others in the same scenario at the same time who don't drink much water.) My allergies are less reactive if I keep good intake of water. My dog and bunny like filtered water better than tap water, so there's also something about the quality of water I drink. My skin is good and I look younger than I am and I attribute much of that to staying well hydrated. The body is mostly water, isn't it? I have many more doctors from several different mediums sharing why, for their specialty, good hydration is a must for me to be healthy.

But if someone doesn't want to drink plenty of water, who am I to try and make them drink? I do hope more is published about this "debunking" though, and maybe shed water, I mean light, on why I think it's the water?!