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August heat poses dangers to those outside Wilson County News, TX - Aug 5, 2008 For more information on the dangers of dehydration, speak to your doctor, or contact the American Red Cross at 210-224-5151, or see their Web site at ... Israel News Agency Facebook, Blogs, Web 2.0 Kick In As Israel Enters Beijing China ... Israel News Agency, Israel - Many of the athletes competing outdoors are expected to suffer dehydration. But with the weather conditions not too distant to that of a hot Israel summer, ... Janie Gunn: Simple way to optimize your wellness: Drink more water Noblesville Daily Times, IN - Over 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated. When we get dehydrated then the cells in our body die. Our kidneys cannot function properly without ... Dallas Morning News Electricity use sets record for year on 105-degree day Dallas Morning News, TX - Aug 5, 2008 The unrelenting heat has sent higher-than-usual numbers of residents to local emergency rooms for heat exhaustion or dehydration. ... California Pro-Life Group Continues Opposing Bill That Promotes ... LifeNews.com, MT - "Patty Berg's bill AB 2747 encourages medically vulnerable individuals to kill themselves through voluntary dehydration," the pro-life group says in a new ... Sportsnet.ca Severe dehydration sends Eagles' Clemons to hospital The News Journal, DE - Jul 30, 2008 But even Cole winced when an ambulance whisked away his Eagles defensive linemate, Chris Clemons, who suffered severe dehydration during Tuesday morning's ... Eagles' Abiamiri out at least month after surgery; Clemons ... Press of Atlantic City Eagles' Clemons OK after scare Cherry Hill Courier Post Eagles DE Clemons out of hospital, back in camp International Herald Tribune all 253 news articles » Times Online Liquid launch for athletes Times Online, UK - Aug 1, 2008 For those with concerns about dehydration, it is worth visiting the Gatorade web site www.gatorade.co.uk where you can calculate how much you should drink ... Valley Scouts ride Chisolm trail San Jose Mercury News,  USA - Aug 6, 2008 "I was on night duty," he said, sipping fluid from a moisture pack he and the other riders carried with them to combat dehydration. ... How to beat dehydration in summer Tallahassee.com, FL - Jul 22, 2008 Too little fluid during exercise can lead to dehydration, while too much can result in over-hydration. Both conditions impair your ability to exercise, ... The Canadian Press Tweens and teens looking for a first job: start with babysitting ... The Canadian Press,  N.J. - Aug 5, 2008 Also, manual labour can be dangerous, from malfunctioning machinery to dehydration or sunburn, so parents must impress on kids the importance of safety. ...

Dehydration

Under normal conditions, we all lose some body water every day in our sweat, tears, urine, and stools. Water also evaporates from our skin and leaves the body as vapor when we breathe. We usually replace this body fluid and the salts it contains with the water and salts in our regular diet.

Sometimes, however, children lose abnormally large amounts of water and salts through fever (more water evaporates from the body when body temperature is increased), diarrhea, vomiting, or long periods of exercise with excessive sweating. Some illnesses might also prevent children from taking fluids by mouth. If they're unable to adequately replace the fluid that's been lost, kids can become dehydrated.

Recognizing Dehydration
If your child has fever, diarrhea, or vomiting, or is sweating a lot on a hot day or during intense physical activity, you should watch for signs of dehydration, which can include:

• dry or sticky mouth
• few or no tears when crying
• eyes that look sunken into the head
• soft spot (fontanelle) on top of baby's head that looks sunken
• lack of urine or wet diapers for 6 to 8 hours in an infant (or only a very small amount of dark yellow urine)
• lack of urine for 12 hours in an older child (or only a very small amount of dark yellow urine) dry, cool skin
• lethargy or irritability
• fatigue or dizziness in an older child

Preventing Dehydration
The best way to prevent dehydration is to make sure kids gets plenty of fluids, whether they're sick or just physically active. In other words, you need to make sure that they're consuming more fluids than they're losing (from vomiting, diarrhea, or sweating).

The way you should keep a child adequately hydrated will differ depending on the circumstances. For example, a child with a sore throat may become dehydrated due to difficulty drinking or eating. Easing the pain with acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin) may help. Cold drinks or popsicles can also soothe a burning throat while supplying fluids at the same time.

Infants with blocked noses who have trouble feeding can be helped by flushing their nostrils with saltwater, or saline, nose drops and suctioning out the mucus with a bulb syringe.

Fever, which can be a factor in dehydration in any infectious disease, can be controlled with medications or room-temperature sponge baths and dressing the child in light clothing.

On hot, dry, and windy days, it's important that children drink often. Those who participate in sports or strenuous activities should also drink some extra fluid before the activity begins. They should also drink at regular intervals (every 20 minutes) during the course of the activity and after the activity ends.

Thirst is not a good early indicator of dehydration. By the time a child feels thirsty, he or she may already be dehydrated. And thirst can be quenched before the necessary body fluids have been replaced. That's why it's recommended to start drinking before thirst develops and to drink some additional fluid even after thirst is quenched. Sports practices and competitions should be scheduled in the early morning or late afternoon to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Children with mild gastroenteritis (an infection, sometimes called the "stomach flu," that can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) who aren't dehydrated should continue to eat normally but should be encouraged to drink additional fluid to replace fluid losses. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, recent studies have shown that most children with gastroenteritis can safely eat a regular age-appropriate diet while they're sick. In fact, feeding a regular diet to children who have diarrhea may even reduce the duration of diarrhea, while offering proper nutrition at the same time. Infants with mild gastroenteritis who aren't dehydrated should continue to drink breast milk or regular-strength formula. Older children may continue to drink full- strength milk.

Foods that are usually well tolerated by children with gastroenteritis who aren't dehydrated include: complex carbohydrates (such as rice, wheat, potatoes, bread, and cereals), lean meats, yogurt, fruits, and vegetables. Avoid fatty foods or foods high in simple sugars (including juices and soft drinks). If the child is vomiting and isn't dehydrated, give fluids frequently, but in small amounts.

Treating Dehydration

It's important for parents to learn to recognize the early signs of dehydration and to respond quickly if they develop. Younger infants and children should be watched especially carefully because they're more likely to become dehydrated than older children or adolescents.

The goal in treating dehydration is to replace fluids to restore the levels of body fluids to normal. As with prevention, strategies may differ depending on the age of the child and the condition causing the dehydration.

An older child who's mildly dehydrated due to overexertion will probably be thirsty and should be allowed to drink as much as he or she wants. Plain water is the best beverage to drink for the first hour or 2. After this, the child might need drinks containing sugar and electrolytes (salts) or regular food. Also, the child should rest from the activity in a cool, shaded environment until the lost fluid has been replaced.

Children who are dehydrated due to vomiting or diarrhea from an illness (such as gastroenteritis) should have their lost fluids replaced with a special drink called an oral rehydration solution (ORS). This is available in many grocery stores and pharmacies without a prescription and is designed for children who are dehydrated. It contains just the right combination of sugar and salts to help the intestines absorb what the body needs.

Other "clear liquids" often used by parents or recommended by doctors in the past are no longer considered appropriate for use in dehydrated children. Drinks to avoid include: water, soda, ginger ale, tea, fruit juice, gelatin desserts, chicken broth, or sports drinks. These beverages don't have the right mix of sugar and salts and can even make diarrhea worse.

The replacement of lost fluids is known as rehydration, which is achieved by quickly replacing the lost fluids using an oral rehydration solution over the course of a few hours. Start the rehydration process by giving your child 1 or 2 teaspoons (5 or 10 milliliters) of an oral rehydration solution every few minutes. This can be done with a spoon or an oral syringe, or even in popsicle form. Although this may not seem like enough fluids to rehydrate your child, these small amounts can add up to more than a cup (237 milliliters) an hour. Even children who are vomiting can usually be successfully rehydrated in this way because the small frequent sips get absorbed in between the vomiting episodes. In addition, the correction of dehydration often lessens the frequency of vomiting. If the child does well, you can gradually give bigger sips a little less often.

In nursing infants, breastfeeding should be continued at all times, even during the initial rehydration process. An oral rehydration solution can be given in between breastfeedings. In the child who is normally formula-fed or who eats solids, formula and foods should be stopped during rehydration and restarted as soon as the child is no longer showing signs of dehydration several hours later. Changes in formula usually aren't necessary.

Once your child is rehydrated, you can resume your child's normal diet, which should include lots of complex carbohydrates (such as rice, potatoes, and whole-grain breads and cereals), lean meats, yogurt, fruits and vegetables, as well as the child's usual milk source (breast milk or formula for infants and full-strength cow's milk for older children). But be sure to avoid fatty foods or foods high in simple sugars, such as juices and soft drinks. Resuming an age-appropriate diet early is essential in supplying your child with necessary calories and nutrients and can even reduce the duration of gastroenteritis.

It's also important to note that there are a number of old wives' tales about treating dehydration that are not recommended. For example, the practice of withholding food for more than 24 hours is inappropriate and can be unsafe. Likewise, specific diets that have been commonly recommended in the past - such as the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) - are unnecessarily restrictive and do not provide the best nutrition for the child's recovering intestinal tract. Also, over-the-counter medicines for diarrhea or vomiting are not recommended for children. They have potentially dangerous side effects in kids. Appropriate fluids - not medicines - are the key to treatment.

A few dehydrated children do not improve when given an oral rehydration solution, especially if they have very frequent bouts of explosive diarrhea or frequent vomiting. Kids who can't replace losses because of vomiting, difficulty swallowing, massive diarrhea, or other reasons, might need to receive intravenous (IV) fluids in the hospital.

If you're treating your child for dehydration at home and feel that there's no improvement or that the dehydration is worsening, call your child's doctor immediately or take your child to the nearest emergency department.