Dehydration: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention
The condition of dehydration is caused by your body losing more fluid than it drinks, resulting in fatigue, dizziness, headache, muscle cramps, and confusion. It can adversely affect your health and performance in various ways. It is therefore important to recognize the signs of dehydration and take precautions to prevent it, as it can cause shock, organ damage, or even death in severe cases.
Causes of Dehydration
Any situation or condition that causes you to lose more water than usual can cause dehydration.
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Sweating: When you sweat, you lose water and electrolytes (minerals that help regulate your body functions). Sweating is a natural way to cool your body down when you're hot or exercising. Excessive sweating can, however, deplete your fluid levels and lead to dehydration. The following factors can cause you to sweat more: high temperatures, humidity, physical activity, clothing, and diseases like hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).
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Your digestive system loses a lot of water and electrolytes when you vomit or have diarrhea. Infections or illnesses that cause frequent or severe vomiting or diarrhea can lead to dehydration quickly. Food poisoning, gastroenteritis (stomach flu), and cholera are some examples of such illnesses.
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Fever: When you have a fever, your body temperature goes above normal. Fever causes you to sweat more and lose water from your body. It also increases your metabolism and makes you breathe faster, which can also cause you to lose fluids. An infection or inflammation in your body usually causes a fever.
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Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects your body's ability to use glucose (sugar) for energy. When your blood glucose level is too high, your kidneys produce more urine to flush the excess glucose out. Moreover, diabetes can cause other symptoms that increase your risk of dehydration, including increased thirst, dry mouth, and blurred vision. This can make you urinate more often and lose water from your body.
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Burns: Burns are injuries that damage your skin and other tissues. As a result of inflammation and increased blood flow, you lose fluid from both the affected area and the rest of your body when you suffer from a burn. Additionally, burns cause you to lose fluid, which can lead to infection and evaporation. Dehydration severity depends on the extent and depth of the burn.
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Other possible causes of dehydration include alcohol consumption, medication use, kidney disease, adrenal insufficiency, cystic fibrosis, and old age.
Symptoms of Dehydration
There are many symptoms of dehydration depending on the degree of fluid loss and the health status of the individual. Some of the most common symptoms include:
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The most obvious sign of dehydration is thirst. Thirst is your body’s way of telling you to drink more water. However, thirst is not always a reliable indicator of hydration status, as it may not show up until you are already mildly or moderately dehydrated. It is therefore important to drink water as soon as you feel thirsty.
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Your physical and mental performance can be affected by fatigue, a feeling of tiredness or lack of energy. It is difficult for your heart to pump blood and oxygen to your muscles and brain if you are dehydrated, which results in a reduction in blood volume and blood pressure. As well as affecting electrolyte balance, dehydration can cause muscle cramps and weakness.
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A feeling of lightheadedness or unsteadiness that can make you feel like you are about to faint or lose your balance can be caused by dehydration, which lowers your blood pressure and reduces blood flow to your brain. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious complications of dehydration that can cause dizziness.
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Dehydration can cause headaches by shrinking your brain cells due to fluid loss and triggering pain receptors in your brain. Headache is a pain or discomfort in any part of your head or neck. A headache can also be caused by dehydration due to dilated blood vessels and increased skull pressure.
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If you have a dry mouth, your mouth has less saliva than normal. By reducing the production of saliva from your salivary glands, dehydration can result in dry mouth. Saliva helps moisten your mouth, protect your teeth from decay, and assist in digestion. Swallowing and speaking can also be difficult with dry mouth.
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When your kidneys filter your blood, they produce urine, a liquid waste product. The color of your urine can indicate how hydrated you are. You should normally have clear or pale yellow urine. When you are dehydrated, your urine becomes dark yellow, amber, or brown. You can conserve water by concentrating your urine and excreting more waste products as a result. A dark urine can also be a sign of other health problems, such as a urinary tract infection, liver disease, or blood in the urine.
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Other symptoms: Some other symptoms of dehydration that may not be as common or noticeable are:
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Dry skin
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Sunken eyes
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Reduced sweating
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Low urine output
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Constipation
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Rapid heart rate
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Low blood pressure
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Confusion
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Irritability
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Fainting
Diagnosis of Dehydration
It is possible to diagnose dehydration by a healthcare professional based on your medical history, physical examination, and laboratory tests.
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Your healthcare provider will ask you about your symptoms, fluid intake, fluid loss, and any underlying conditions or medications that may affect your hydration status, as well as your exposure to heat, exercise, or altitude.
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Your healthcare provider will examine your vital signs, including your temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and breathing rate. Your healthcare provider will also check your skin, mouth, eyes, and neck for signs of dehydration. They may perform a skin turgor test, in which they pinch the skin on the back of your hand or lower arm and watch how quickly it returns to its normal position. Dehydration may result in poor skin elasticity if the skin remains folded or takes a long time to flatten out. Moreover, they may perform an orthostatic test, in which your blood pressure and pulse are measured while you lie down and again when you stand up. The signs of dehydration include a drop in blood pressure or a significant increase in pulse when you stand up.
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Your healthcare provider may order some blood and urine tests to determine your hydration status and electrolyte levels. These include:
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BUN and creatinine are waste products excreted from your body by your kidneys. High levels indicate dehydration-induced kidney damage.
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A high serum osmolality indicates a high blood concentration due to dehydration. It measures the concentration of dissolved particles in your blood.
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In case of dehydration, a high hematocrit indicates low blood volume.
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The urine specific gravity measures the concentration of dissolved particles in your urine. High urine specific gravity indicates dehydration.
Treatment of Dehydration
Dehydration can be treated in a variety of ways depending on the severity and cause of the condition. The main goal is to restore the fluid and electrolyte balance in the body.
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The most common treatment for mild to moderate dehydration is oral rehydration. In this case, you drink fluids containing water, sugar, and electrolytes, such as oral rehydration solutions (ORS), sports drinks, or fruit juices that have been diluted. It is recommended that you drink small amounts of fluids frequently until you feel better because they replenish your body's water and electrolytes. Alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated beverages can also worsen dehydration.
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It involves receiving fluids through a needle inserted into a vein in your arm or hand when oral rehydration is not possible or effective. When severe dehydration is present or when oral rehydration is not possible, intravenous rehydration is used. Water, electrolytes, glucose, or other medications make up the fluids. By restoring blood volume and pressure and correcting electrolyte imbalances, these fluids help you feel better. If you are dehydrated, you may need to stay in a hospital or emergency care setting for a while.
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Treatment of underlying cause: Sometimes dehydration is the result of an underlying illness or condition that must be treated separately. In order to control your blood glucose level, you may need to adjust your insulin dose or take other medications if you have diabetes. Antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs may be needed to reduce fever or vomiting if you have an infection or inflammation.
Prevention of Dehydration
You can prevent dehydration by following some simple tips and strategies that can help you maintain adequate hydration throughout the day. Some tips include:
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In general, you should drink eight glasses (64 ounces) of water per day, but you may need more if you sweat. A general guideline is to drink eight glasses (64 ounces) of water per day.
