Page 208 - Wasserstoff Medizin

rapidly. Rehydration is the crucial process of returning those fluids back to the body to
restore normal functioning. Dehydration in children can be a serious medical condition.
Left untreated, it can have dire consequences. Since children aren’t always aware or able
to tell us if they’re dehydrated, it falls to us as parents.

Water is one of the most important nutrients for children. Very often when we read the
dietary advice for children, attention is not paid to the important facts concerning correct
usage of water and other beverages. Children should always have unlimited access to
pure, clean and high quality drinking water.

Dehydration has many causes but the most common is illness. When a child is vomiting
or has diarrhea, they lose a lot of fluid. Fever contributes to fluid loss. For every degree
in temperature above 100.4° F, your child loses 12.5 percent of body fluid. Decreased
fluid intake due to a sore throat or mouth is another cause, as is inadequate fluid while
active or in the heat. In rare cases, excessive urination due to conditions such as diabetes
and kidney disease can cause dehydration in children.

Dehydration is a fact of life for those who believe that beverages like coffee and sodas
can substitute for pure drinking water. Eating and drinking the wrong foods will lead to
dehydration. Foods such as fruits and vegetables are supposed to provide 20 percent of
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our water intake—junk foods do little to help us remain fully hydrated.

Dr. Charles Peterson says dehydration is a problem among Americans suffering from
other illnesses, such as diabetes, or those who undergo extreme exertion, but this is not
really true. Anyone can suffer from dehydration and the facts are that most people suffer
from mild dehydration at one time or another.

Dehydration triggers the release of histamines that start
a chain reaction of allergic reactions and health problems.

Under normal circumstances many of us flirt with mild dehydration over sustained
periods. This is where things start to go wrong and doctors routinely make matters worse
by not only failing to recognize dehydration but also by prescribing medicines that further
depress water levels in the body and blood.

Shortness of breath is a common symptom of dehydration and so is low energy. When
someone is dehydrated and experiencing these symptoms one merely has to drink several

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