Hydration is one of the essential elements of a healthy life. Every day our body loses 2 to 3 liters of water through sweating or movement, even while breathing. These functions are essential for our survival, so we must compensate for the loss of fluids.

Maintaining the balance is important to avoid dehydration or to avoid an overdose of water in the body. Dehydration causes loss of energy, low mood, dry skin and high blood pressure. A dehydrated brain needs more effort to function.

Until now, specialists have said that we should consume 8 glasses of water a day. But recent studies show that this amount depends on our body weight and the environment where we live. The amount we should consume is 2.5 – 3.7 liters per day for men and 2 – 2.7 for women.

How does dehydration affect learning abilities?

Dehydration can cause headaches, dizziness and a lethargic state, which lasts depending on the lack of water.

Its impact is strong in any age group. However, in the case of the elderly, the situation requires extra care. With age, water reserves in the body are decreasing as a result of the contraction of muscle mass. The kidneys have a harder time retaining water.

Hormones that signal thirst are clouded and it happens that in these age groups, people forget to drink water or think they are not thirsty. In addition to others, the elderly are significantly more at risk of reduced learning abilities.

According to experts, dehydration, but also excessive drinking of water have a negative impact on these three important aspects of the brain:

– Information processing speed

The impact of dehydration is felt a lot, especially on short-term memory.

But there are cases when drinking too much water can be dangerous

Water intoxication occurs when a person has drunk so much water that the level of salt in the blood drops to alarming levels. When this happens, water leaks from the blood into other tissues and cells.

The main organ affected by this is the brain. It swells significantly and the person becomes confused, has headaches and nausea. In the elderly, this probability is high because the kidneys fail to empty the water loads from the body. Thus, they can easily face water intoxication.

An increased risk is observed in people suffering from kidney, liver or heart diseases.

Source: prizrenpost