In summer, due to the heat and high temperatures, one of the risks we run is that our body loses a large amount of water and mineral salts, thus leading to dehydration.
This risk is greater in children, the elderly, people suffering from chronic diseases, those who hardly drink liquids and those who practice intense exercise in the hottest hours of the day.
To avoid dehydration it is necessary to drink water or isotonic drinks, which apart from water provide us with the electrolytes that our body needs. We should drink whenever we are thirsty, better in big drinks than small ones and in situations of intense water loss, such as high temperatures or intense exercise, we must drink even before we are thirsty, small amounts and periodically.
How to detect dehydration. If it is mild, we will feel thirsty, tiredness, headache, dry mouth and dizziness when we stand up (orthostatic hypotension), in addition to a decrease in the amount of urine, which will be darker than normal. Sometimes we can also feel that our vision is blurred. If the dehydration becomes more severe, we will feel drowsy, we will notice the sunken eyes and fainting may occur.
If we do not have access to water or another source of liquid and mineral salts, death from dehydration occurs within three to five days.
Dehydration treatment is performed by replacing the fluids and salts that we have lost. For this, commercial serums that can be found in the pharmacy or homemade serums are used, such as alkaline lemonade, which we can prepare by dissolving in a liter of water the juice of 2 lemons, a tablespoon of baking soda and adding sugar according to our taste.
If dehydration is very severe, intravenous fluid administration and hospitalization are usually necessary.
