Symptoms of diarrhea and dehydration in adults

Now that the weather is getting hotter, the shelf life of food is getting shorter and shorter. People should pay more attention when eating, otherwise it is easy to get acute gastroenteritis and cause diarrhea. When diarrhea is severe, dehydration may occur. Once dehydration occurs, it means that there is a problem with the metabolic cycle. In severe cases, it can be life-threatening, so you should take care to prevent dehydration.

Dehydration is a symptom of metabolic disorder caused by the body consuming a large amount of water due to disease and not being able to replenish it immediately. In severe cases, it can cause collapse and even life-threatening. Patients with dehydration usually feel tired, dizzy when standing up, or even faint, and have symptoms such as unclear consciousness. Some patients with dehydration may experience symptoms of insufficient blood supply to the organ arteries, such as chest pain and abdominal pain. Common physical signs include poor skin elasticity, dry skin and mucous membranes, rapid and weak pulse, superficial venous collapse, cold limbs, decreased urine volume, etc.

What is worth noting here is that many people will experience diarrhea, which is also a cause of dehydration in the human body. However, the diarrhea is not very severe and manifests as mild dehydration. It can be seen that the patient's tongue and lips are relatively dry, the urine volume is slightly reduced, and the whole person appears very weak. However, if it can be corrected in time, it will not cause much harm to the human body.

If the dehydration is moderate, the patient will be listless, have dry skin with poor elasticity, and if you pinch the skin on the abdomen with your fingers and then release your hands, the skin on the abdomen will not flatten out immediately. The patient has dry lips and tongue, little saliva, sunken eye sockets, and after closing his eyes, the eyeballs can still be seen, which is medically called closed eyes with open eyes. Generally, when a patient reaches moderate dehydration, doctors and parents should pay close attention to it. When oral medication cannot solve the problem, fluids should be given.

Patients with diarrhea suffer from severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance due to large amounts of bowel movements, and must replenish large amounts of water. Drinking plenty of water, a mixed solution of potassium chloride, glucose and sodium citrate is an ideal choice because it can replenish the glucose and minerals lost in the body, and regulate the balance of potassium, sodium electrolytes, water and acid-base; carrot juice, apple juice, watermelon juice, etc. can not only replenish water, but also replenish essential vitamins, and are also good supplements. They are both good ways to prevent dehydration and loss of electrolytes due to diarrhea.