Not drinking enough fluids can lead to chronic dehydration, harming your overall health. Dehydration occurs when the body does not have enough water. This can be caused by several things, including diarrhoea, vomiting, and sweating.
Dehydration can lead to many health problems and even be deadly in severe cases. Therefore, it is important to know the signs and symptoms of dehydration in adults and children. Here are some of them:
1. Dark-Coloured Urine and Low Urine Output
If you're not drinking enough fluids, your urine will be darker in colour, and you will urinate less frequently. Checking the colour of your urine is a practical way to identify dehydration. Your urine can turn dark if you're not drinking enough fluids or your body is trying to conserve water.
When this happens, your urine becomes more concentrated with waste products from the body, like sodium and urea. The goal is to have pale yellow urine, like the colour of light straw. This is because other factors, like medications and B vitamins, can turn urine bright yellow.
2. Fatigue
If you're not drinking enough fluids, you may feel more tired than normal. This is because dehydration can impact every part of your health, including your sleep-wake cycles.
The study found that people who slept for shorter periods were more likely to be dehydrated and that people who were adequately hydrated slept for longer periods. Dehydration can make you feel more fatigued during exercise, which can, in turn, affect your endurance.
3. Dry Skin and Cracked Lips
Dehydration is one of the leading causes of dry skin, as it decreases the skin's ability to retain moisture. When the skin is dehydrated, it becomes more susceptible to damage and dryness, leading to flaking, cracking, and itching.
Dry skin and cracked lips can be a sign of dehydration. If you do not drink enough water, your body will start to show dehydration. Dry skin and cracked lips are just two of the many signs. If you are experiencing these symptoms, it is important to get the proper diagnosis, as many other health conditions can cause these symptoms.
The skin turgor test is a way for healthcare professionals to check if someone is dehydrated. To do the test, they grab a piece of skin on the lower arm or abdomen between two fingers and then release it. The person is dehydrated if the skin takes a long time to return to its normal position.
If you pinch the skin on your arm and release it, hydrated skin will snap back into place quickly. Dehydrated skin, however, will take longer to return to its normal position. This decreased skin turgor is usually a sign of moderate to severe dehydration.
4. Headaches
Dehydration can cause headaches because it leads to a decrease in blood volume. This can cause the blood vessels in the brain to constrict, leading to headaches. Dehydration can lead to headaches in some people by causing the blood vessels in the brain to stretch.
However, there may be other reasons dehydration causes headaches, and not everyone is equally susceptible to this type of headache. Increasing water intake may help reduce migraine symptoms in people who experience them.
Conclusion
If you're feeling any of the symptoms listed above, it's important to take action and rehydrate as soon as possible. The best way to do this is to drink plenty of fluids, preferably water or an electrolyte-rich beverage. You can also eat water-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
If your dehydration is severe, you may need to seek medical treatment. In severe cases, dehydration can lead to serious health complications, such as heat stroke, kidney failure, or seizures. If you think you may be dehydrated, you must see a doctor as soon as possible.
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