RJ Mercure and is brother Nicholas Mercure  Binder Park Zoo

Dehydration Return to Index
FA'ers tend to not drink enough fluids. Did you know up to 60% of the human adult body is water? According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.

So what if one under-drinks, under-hydrates? See this study, and these weren't even FA'ers.

And from www.medicinenet.com here is a partial list of signs/symptoms of dehydration:
  • Dry mouth
  • Eyes stop making tears
  • Sweating may stop
  • Muscle cramps
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Heart palpitations (tachycardia)
  • Lightheadedness (especially when in the act of standing)
  • Weakness
We see this multiple times a year in FAPG. FA'ers in ER having to get "juiced" because of dehydration. Is the FA'ers urine light yellow (good) or dark yellow/orange (bad)? Going to the bathroom is difficult for FA'ers and takes time. BUT the alternative may not be good.

And so then in the ER when the ER doctor wants to slam a bolus of fluids into the FA'er the parent or FA'er needs to inform the doctor the FA'er is a "fragile" and/or "cardiac" patient, and rapid administration of fluids may overload their striated-muscled heart. See Emergencies: Hospital and ER.


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