THE IMPORTANCE OF HYDRATION
By
Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D.
March 4, 2013
NewsWithViews.com
[Note: Because my column today deals with health, I am going to quote the following (re Obamacare) from Abiding Word Ministries newsletter THE VINE AND BRANCHES (Midwinter 2013): "David and Barbara Green are committed Christians who own over 500 Hobby Lobby stores in 41states. The stores are closed on Sundays so their employees may spend time with their families. When the Green family discovered that Obamacare would require them to include sterilization drugs, contraceptives, and abortion-inducing drugs in their company's insurance plan, they, like many other businesses appealed to the courts for relief, claiming their First Amendment rights. The Obama lawyers argued that such rights don't apply to for profit corporations. The Greens lost. A federal appeals court, the 10th Circuit Court and even Obama-appointed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor have all refused to grant an injunction that would keep the Greens from having to violate their Christian convictions. Consequently, they face a fine of $1.3 million per day. The Green family respects the religious convictions of all Americans, including those who do not agree with them. All they are asking is for the government to give them the same respect by not forcing them to violate their religious beliefs. Editor's Note: How have we come to the place in America where the First Amendment applies only to some and not to all? If First Amendment rights can be taken from the Greens, is it not posible that one day this precious right may be taken from any one of us?"
How can Christians, who are supposedly the majority in this country, allow this to happen to the Greens? What are you who are reading this, that I am now writing, doing about it? Nothing? Not contacting your member of Congress? Not organizing in opposition? Not even writing a letter to the editor or calling your local talk show about it? Then don't complain when the government comes for you and takes you away for whatever reason they want!
Also, remember that at the Virginia Convention on June 16, 1788, James Madison warned: "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.]
I thought about titling this article, "The Use of IV in Preventive Medicine for Geriatric Patients," and sending it to a medical publication. However, because I have a Ph.D. and not an M.D., I thought its chances of being published would be slim. I also thought its chances of publication would be slim because I would be accusing many of the administrative or academic elites (who establish the polices in the medical profession) of a lack of what neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock called "common sense."
Dr. Blaylock has his own website, knows what causes Alzheimers (and how to alleviate it) and ALS symptoms caused by untreated lyme disease (and how to cure it). He also greatly helped my mother (who will soon be 89) with her mental functioning. He said the elderly often don't eat and drink as much as they should (hardly anyone drinks enough water), and therefore they become dehydrated. When that happens, they lose things critically important to their health, especially magnesium for their mental functioning. He suggested I regularly give her a multimineral/multivitamin plus MagOx (magnesium oxide) which is nonprescription and doesn't cause the possible problems with bowel movements that can occur with magnesium citrate. Once my mother started taking those, her mental functioning improved greatly, and people suffereing from dementia or Alzheimers might also take note of this.
The other day, I mentioned to Dr. Blaylock that my mother was "mildly" dehydrated and asked if an IV might help her. He replied that he and other doctors "back in the day" used to routinely give non-medicated IV fluids to patients suffering from "mild" dehydration as a way of keeping them from becoming fully dehydrated. This is important because with full dehydration can come other problems, such as dermatological problems from dry skin and a UTI (urinary tract infection) because the germs/virus can more easily attack the body tissue rather than simply being flushed out.
Unfortunately, while doctors today give senior citizens many things to aid their health (e.g., exercise routines), they rarely give patients IVs when they are only "mildly" dehydrated. I know IV has helped my mother because twice when she became fully dehydrated and was taken to the hospital, she became almost normal within a short time after a simple IV was administered. I believe there is a great need for someone to begin (and expand nationally) a service to administer regular, non-medicated IV for the elderly (or anyone) in their homes. I think that if the administrative or academic elites change their policies they have established for the medical profession in this regard, doctors would gladly begin to use such a service.
What happens now is a geriatric patient functioning at 100% of their capacity, slowly, almost imperceptively, begins to slide. They become slightly less active. Their brain and digestive functions communicate to each other that they need slightly less food and drink. Because they have slightly less food and drink, they become even more inactive. That, in turn, leads to even less food and drink, and they eventually slide into "mild" dehydration. However, it's so slow, they don't even realize what is happening. If the medical elites would change their policies regarding IVs, though, doctors would order preventive IVs administered depending upon the level of need for each geriatric patient. It may be that some patients only will need this once a year. Others may need it more often.
I seriously believe millions of elderly, especially those who are homebound or find it difficult to get to a doctor's office, could greatly benefit from home-administered IV. Doctors could also offer IVs in their offices for their elderly patients who can make it there.
As more and more of us baby-boomers reach our senior years of life, there will be an increasing need for doctors to help us maintain good health, and an occasional IV for those who, for whatever reason, don't eat or drink enough, can greatly assist in that regard.
| Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts! |
Another two suggestions for senior citizens regarding hydration has to do with the outside of the body. A couple of times, I noticed my mother was becoming forgetful. I also remembered that she had not taken a shower in a while, letting the warm water run on her head. As soon as I got her to do this, her ability to remember returned. What happened? I believe the warm water dilated the blood vessels in her head, allowing better oxygen flow to the brain. You might recommend this to the elderly you know (including yourself if you haven't done so recently).
Also, I noticed my mother wasn't washing her face as frequently. Therefore, whenever she went to the bathroom, I would hand her a wash cloth rinsed in warm water and ask her to rinse her face. Or, whenever she sat at the table to eat, I might hand her a folded paper towel rinsed with warm water and ask her to rinse her face. This hydrated her dry skin and helped reduce her facial dermatological problems.
Hydration, internally and externally, is important for maintaining good health, and often the elderly need our assistance in that regard.
� 2013 Dennis Cuddy - All Rights Reserved
Share
This Article
