Dehydration is the loss of water & important blood salts such as potassium & sodium, a condition that makes it impossible for the body to function at an optimal level. The body's vital organs, such as the kidneys, brain, and heart, cannot function without a certain amount of water & salt. Fluid replacement is probably the most important nutritional concern for athletes. Approximately 60 % of body weight is water. With exercise, fluid is lost through the skin as sweat and through the lungs with breathing. If this fluids is not replaced at regular intervals during exercise, the athlete can become dehydrated. When dehydrated, the athlete has a smaller volume of blood circulating through the body. Consequently, the amount of blood the heart pumps with each beat decreases & exercising muscles do not receive enough oxygen from the blood. Soon exhaustion sets in, and athletic performance suffers. A loss of just 2 % of an athlete's body weight during competition can adversely affect performance. Thus, proper fluid replacement is the key to successfully competing in the heat as well as for preventing dehydration and reducing the risk of heat injury during training and competition.
Causes
Dehydration can be caused by inadequate intake of fluids, which is often the case with athletes, or by fluid loss as a result of vomiting, diarrhea, excessive urination, excessive sweating or fever, or it can be caused by a combination of both.
Because of their smaller body weights and higher turnover rates for water and electrolytes, infants and children are more susceptible to dehydration than adults. In infants and children, the most common cause of dehydration is gastroenteritis, which causes vomiting & diarrhea. Often, there is an accompanying fever, so that fluid loss occurs as a result of excess sweating as well.
Diagnosis
Dehydration is classified as mild, moderate, or severe based on the % of body weight lost during the acute illness. The following definitions show a range to represent difference depending on age.
** Mild dehydration is a loss of between 3 ~ 5 % of weight.
** Moderate dehydration is a loss between 6 ~ 10 % of body weight.
** Severe dehydration is a loss of more than 9 ~ 15 % of body weight.
Symptoms of the 3 stages of dehydration are as follow :-
*** Mild dehydration is characterized by thirst, dry lips, & slightly dry mount membranes.
*** Moderate dehydration is characterized by very dry mount membranes, sunken eyes, sunken fontanelle (the soft spot on an infant's head), & skin that is not resilient when pinched.
*** Severe dehydration is characterized by all the signs of moderate dehydration plus a rapid, weak pulse, cold hands & feet, rapid breathing, blue lips, confusion, and lethargy.
Other symptoms that may be present include decreased or absent urination and decreased tears.
^^ C u next week in the dehydration's treatment & prevention course ~
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