Dehydration is the leading cause of death among children across the globe. In fact it is the dehydration that occurs as a result of diarrhea that is the killer in high risk groups like infants and children. The focus is therefore more often on diarrhea than on dehydration. Most, if not all of these deaths are preventable had the dehydration been managed and treated appropriately. Unfortunately there are a number of factors that hampers the proper treatment of dehydration with a lack of knowledge being of the leading factors. What is dehydration? Dehydration is a state where there is a net fluid loss as a result of more fluid being lost than fluid taken in. We lose fluid throughout the day, through sweat, urine, the air we exhale and in our stool. However, our daily fluid intake ensures that we never lose more fluid than we are taking in. When the fluid intake is too great the kidneys will pass out the excess fluid. Similarly when the fluid intake is too low the kidneys will preserve fluids. Overall the body should have enough fluid to maintain an inner state of balance known as homeostasis. In dehydration however, the fluid loss [...]
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