Hot and Cold Water Cooler Sydney

What is dehydration in the elderly? Are they drinking enough from their hot and cold water cooler Sydney.

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More than half of the body is made up of water. Fluid is very important for your health, for example for blood circulation, digestion, the functioning of the heart and kidneys and regulating your body temperature. Dehydration is a shortage of water in the body. This can be due to too little fluid intake, too much fluid loss or a combination of both. If you lose moisture, you often also lose salts and nutrients. People older than 70 are more likely to become dehydrated.

How do I recognize dehydration in the elderly?

Signs of dehydration are:

• little or no urination
• dark urine
• thirst
• dry mouth and tongue
• headache
• constipation
• rapid breathing
• fast heartbeat
• deep-set eyes
• cold arms and legs
• little or no sweating while it is warm
• decreased elasticity of the skin
• listlessness
• a tendency to pass out
• confusion
• drowsiness

Losing weight can also be a sign of dehydration. This involves more than 1 kilogram of weight loss per day.

Dehydration can have various causes:

• Drinking too little from your hot and cold water cooler Sydney, because you are sick because you want to urinate less often, because you want to prevent unexpected urine loss (incontinence) or because you do not drink during fasting (such as Ramadan) during the day
• Less strong thirst feeling (because you get older)
• Vomiting, for example with a gastrointestinal infection due to a virus or bacteria
• Diarrhea, for example from traveller's diarrhea, from medicines such as metformin (an anti-diabetes medicine) or when taking some antibiotics
• Lots of sweating, for example during a fever, warm weather or exertion
• Frequent urination due to medicines such as diuretics ("diuretics")
• Frequent urination due to a disease, such as diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus and Addison's disease

It often concerns a combination of causes. If it is a hot day and you have a lot of diarrhea, but do not immediately think about drinking well, you can just dry out.

Can it hurt?

If you pay close attention to the characteristics of dehydration and always keep a glass or bottle of water in sight, you can prevent dehydration by drinking well. If you already have symptoms of mild dehydration, you can quickly recover if you drink a lot. Do you not notice that you are drying out? Then you can eventually become drowsy and confused. If the dehydration persists, you may even go into a coma. You must then be treated quickly in a hospital. There you will receive fluid with a special composition through an IV (a tube in the vein).

What can I do to prevent dehydration?

Make sure you keep drinking enough. Drink about 1.5 to 2 liters of fluid a day. Always keep a glass or bottle of water nearby and take a sip regularly. Do you urinate less than you normally do? Or is your urine dark yellow? Then it is good to drink extra. Also eat fruits and vegetables, because they also contain a lot of water.

Do you have a disease that restricts your fluid intake, such as heart failure or kidney disease, or do you use water pills? Then talk to your doctor about how much you can drink.

With a fever, it is important to drink extra, about 2 to 3 liters per day from a hot and cold water cooler Sydney.

Warm weather advice

• Drink more than you normally do. Take a bottle of water with you when you go out for a few hours. And don't drink alcohol.
• Keep yourself cool. Wear thin clothes. Stay in the shade. Use a beach umbrella. Take a cold (foot) bath or cooling shower. Or occasionally put a cool wet towel on your neck. Only sleep under a sheet or a thin blanket.
• Wear light clothes and a cap or hat.
• Protect your skin with sunscreen. Burning your skin dehydrates faster.
• Are you very hot? Do not make an extra effort during the hottest times of the day (between 11 am and 5 pm). Make use of the cooler morning and evening for your shopping, walk or sport. Are you going to make an extra effort on a hot day? Then not only drink a lot of water but also take some extra salt or a sports drink to prevent the loss of salts.
• Keep your home cool. Avoid heating your home. Use blinds, a fan or, if you have one, air conditioning. Provide ventilation by keeping vents open or leaving windows ajar. When it is cooler, open windows and doors in the morning or evening for fresh air.