November 24, 2015 by
Dehydration occurs when a person loses more water than he or she takes in. Sounds simple, but it’s a very serious problem, and dehydration in older adults can be particularly dangerous. Because the mechanisms that regulate thirst, sweat, and heat change as we age, the way we regulate our fluid intake needs to change as well. “It’s a very complicated pattern. Regulation of salt and water gets to be a bit abnormal as we grow older and we don’t perceive thirst as well,” says Dr. David R. Thomas of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at St. Louis University School of Medicine. (more…)