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Corey RobinsonTuesday, August 13, 2013WITH temperatures rising this summer doctors have warned that good hydration habits are essential to keeping cool, especially while outside.According to the National Library of Medicine, dehydration is when one’s body does not have as much water and fluids as it should. Symptoms of dehydration can be mild, moderate or severe, and the illness can be life-threatening.“When the total pool of water inside the body decreases at a certain point, where there is dysfunction in the body, then you are dehydrated,” explained Dr Ijah Thompson of Essential Medical Services in Red Hills, St Andrew.According to Thompson, a person who is mildly dehydrated does not show many signs, but the symptoms get stronger at the other levels.“Somebody who is mildly dehydrated wouldn’t really show much symptoms but would definitely be a bit lethargic,” said the doctor. “However, the person who is moderately dehydrated would have a lot of symptoms. Lab tests would show electrolyte imbalances as well as a decrease in fluid pools. They can also be lethargic, disoriented and poorly responsive. And when you are severely dehydrated then persons are unresponsive, lethargic, and so on,” he added.Persons who jog, exercise or work outside are more likely to become dehydrated, and as a result Dr Thompson said that such individuals need to be more cognisant about staying hydrated.“People who are out playing sports a lot, and people who are active on the road, can definitely develop heat exhaustion. You can lose a lot of fluid through perspiration, so dehydration is something that can happen to people who do marathons, people who are very active outdoors”.
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Keeping cool in hot times
