HYDRATION FOR OLD PEOPLE

                                         The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

All life requires water for its survival.  NASA has considered all forms of alien life and without exception, water is a requirement.  That said, for higher forms of animal and plant life hydration is required on a regular basis for their existence. This fact should not surprise us as our basic building blocks are oxygen, hydrogen and carbon with some nitrogen thrown in.  Well water has two of those essential ingredients which are oxygen and hydrogen.  No wonder it is so important! 

Sorry about the biochemistry lecture, just had to throw that in to wake you up but I probably just put you to sleep.

Now, animals have a reflex that tells the body when to take in water and of course that reflex is called thirst. Interestingly though, this thirst reflex is not as reliable as many people believe in order to maintain hydration.  For instance with exercise in hot weather severe dehydration will occur if a person does not take in any water until he or she is thirsty.  The same can be said of old people for the thirst mechanism is significantly reduced. Consequently if we do not drink water each day on a regular basis we are dehydrated so our organs can not optimally function.

So, what is the proper amount of water that is required for a person each and everyday?  Good question and the answer depends on who you ask or what you read.   But, what we do know is that regular consumption of water each day is required if we are to live a healthy life.  Of course we take in considerable amounts of water in our food which is difficult to measure. 

Now, if our thirst mechanism does not work well in old people what should be do?  Well, I have a full large 16 oz glass of water with ice in it on my kitchen counter everyday and all day.  When, I go pass it I take a drink of water making sure that I drink a minimum of three glasses each day. For me, it is difficult to drink even a cup of water at one time.

Of course we take in water in many other ways.  Certainly coffee we drink in the morning counts.  Even a martini and wine count as a form of hydration. Good thought but these can not be considered as are main source of water.  On the other hand Black Jack on the rocks with a water chaser has some value here. But of course we will not over do that will we? Re food intake, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, these are loaded with water.

I began this routine hydration after I visited my physician and he asked his nurse to take a sample of blood from me.  Well, she jabbed and jabbed at the veins in my arm without any success and she was experienced at drawing blood!  Certainly we do not need a frustrated nurse with a needle poking holes as she is trying to take blood. So what was wrong?  I then realized that I was extremely dehydrated and my veins were nearly collapsed.  That certainly got my attention to where I now take in plenty of water every day.

I am not saying just because that is how I maintain my hydration that is how everyone should but what is important is that we do drink plenty of water everyday.  Of course, a problem we old people have is that our memory is not as sharp as it once was, so what routine you use in drinking water be sure to remember to do it.

When I go to a restaurant I always order just water.  Sometimes I get a scowl from the waiter or waitress for the house makes a lot of money off the ice tea or coffee thing.  I read someplace that is a major source of revenue for some of these cheaper places, like I usually frequent.

What works here is not just ordering water but drinking it!  Yes how many times do I see people order a glass of water and never touch it.   That is not good for two reasons:  The first of course in the back of one’s mind I had a glass of water at lunch.  Well that is a lie but when we get old we sometimes like to think we did something when we didn’t do it.  The second reason is that the water which you ordered and did not drink goes down the drain – just wasted and that is stupid when the world is always in a water shortage.

Here in San Antonio, Texas when we have critical shortage of water the waitress asks do you want a glass of water?  Why not ask that question when we are not in a critical water shortage?  What is wrong with conserving water when we have enough of it for a short period of time?  Next time you are in a restaurant look around and see how many glasses of unordered water goes to waist. 

So, how can one test that he/she is getting enough water each day.  Of course our urine tells us a lot here.  Its color should be a very light yellow if we are getting enough water.  Now when you urinate and it is a dark yellow, go get a big glass of water.

Oh when I was young I would get pretty dehydrated after a bout of drinking a bit too much alcohol the night before.  You know awake with a throbbing headache and that need to drink lots of water. So, we drank a couple of glasses of water quickly and we felt drunk again.  Called water intoxication, there is some explanation for that about the dehydrated brain suddenly rehydrating and nerve cell activity. Oh well…

As I write this I am drinking my second large cup of coffee.  Good for me.

So what happens to us old people who get dehydrated?  Several things can happen to us all of which are bad.  Our kidneys rely on good hydration and they are an important organ for life.  Bad kidneys and we have bad health.  Of course total kidney shut down and we die.  Young people can get a kidney transplant which is wonderful for each of us only needs one kidney.  But when you reach 80, many states do not support organ transplants!

The other bad thing which can happen is the mind does not work well and we begin to do stupid things.  And, at our age we have done enough stupid things in our lives.  We certainly don’t need to add to that list.

Well on that cheery note I close another blog.  This one is a short one but an important one for poor hydration is the cause of poor health and at times death.  And dying is not one of our goals – certainly not at our age.

It is always fun for me to write these things.  Hope you enjoy and get some valuable information from them.  You know not just making me happy.

I can always we reached by email: burton.russell@att.net  But please mention the Old Rusty Nail when you do this email thing.