Dehydration Health Article

Prevention

Patients who are vomiting or who have diarrhea can prevent dehydration by drinking enough fluid to keep their urine the color of pale straw. Infants and young children with diarrhea and vomiting can be given electrolyte solutions such as Pedialyte to help prevent dehydration, as well as suppository medication to stop the vomiting. People who are not ill can maintain proper fluid balance by drinking several glasses of water before going outside on a hot day. It is also a good idea to avoid coffee and tea, which increase body temperature and water loss.

Patients should ask a pharmacist whether or not any medications they are taking may cause dehydration and what to do to prevent it other than adequate fluid intake. Prompt medical attention should be sought to correct any underlying condition that increases the risk of dehydration.

KEY TERMS

Extracellular—Outside the cells.

Hypertonic—One solution having a greater amount of solute (dissolved substance in a solution) than another solution, thus it exerts more osmotic pressure than the second solution and the body will attempt to equalize pressure by passing fluid through the cell membranes.

Hypotonic—One solution having a lesser amount of solute than another solution, thus it exerts less osmotic pressure than the second solution.

Intracellular—Inside the cells.

Isotonic—Two solutions exerting the same amount of osmotic pressure on a cell membrane.

Osmotic pressure—The pressure exerted on a semipermeable membrane that separates two solutions and the particles they contain.

BOOKS

Andreoli, Thomas E., et al., eds. Cecil Essentials of Medicine, 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders Company, 2001.

Porth, C. Pathophysiology: Concepts of Altered Health States. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, 1998.

Rakel, Robert E., ed. Conn's Current Therapy 2000. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders Company, 1999.

Thelan, Lynne, et al. Critical Care Nursing: Diagnosis and Management. St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 1998.

PERIODICALS

Pace, B. "Preventing Dehydration from Diarrhea." JAMA 285, no. 3 (2001): 362.

Sullivan, A. "Hydration for Adults." Nursing Standard 14, no. 8 (1999): 44-46.

Abby Wojahn, R.N.,B.S.N.,C.C.R.N.