One Way to Live Longer
It is often overlooked but it is vital
My 102-year-old sister began acting strange. The normal, articulate senior began mumbling abstract, disjointed sentences.
Her daughter, my niece, was alarmed. Her mother had always been a “with it” kind of person, not given to abstractions.
She packed her off to the hospital in San Francisco.
There, the nurses fed her water drop by careful drop. She came around to her usual self.
She had been suffering from dehydration.
It is not unusual for older people to skip drinking enough water. It is inconvenient to get up from their nap. Crawl out of bed and drink water. Then turn around and eliminate the urine a few minutes later.
The human body must have copious amounts of water each day to maintain balance.
Experts recommend everyone drink at least five 8-ounce glasses of water each day. Don’t count sugary drinks or coffee.
Surveys show 48 percent of the elderly admitted to Emergency Rooms were dehydrated. My sister was one of them.
I flew in to visit my beloved sister.
She was much the same as she had been on my last visit two years before. The water treatment had the beneficial effect they expected.
Not surprisingly, she wanted to go home. It is natural for all of us to wish to return to our natural surroundings and live our lives as we did before. Home is where all things are in their proper place. You are more comfortable in your own space than in a hospital bed.
My niece, her caretaker, had anticipated the desire. She told my sister she could go home when she could walk on her own.
That day never came. My sister passed this life a few weeks later. She died in her sleep after a long and loving lifetime.
Perhaps she would have lived longer had she been aware of her dehydration. We will never know.
But we do know this. As our bodies age, we shrink and lose water.
In our 40’s men have 60 percent fluid in their bodies. Women have 52 percent. The larger Muscles in men hold more liquid than fat.
When we reach age 60, our liquid content drops drastically.
We lose muscle mass and increase our fat, plus our kidney’s efficiency decreases.
Our kidneys are not able to filter out the toxins as effectively as when we were young.
Therefore, we need more water than ever before to filter urine from our bodies.
If you are responsible for an older person, please monitor their water intake and their general health. I walk 30 minutes a day around my senior center and exercise my arms and legs with resistance bands. Set up an exercise plan for your senior. They will appreciate it. Walk with them.
I set up five 8oz bottles of water in my refrigerator. I drink them throughout the day and refill them in the evening.
It works for me as a great reminder to keep me hydrated. I am 95 and going strong. Please, do this for yourself and your loved ones?
