Читать книгу The Good Gut Guide: Help for IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's Disease, Diverticulitis, Food Allergies and Other Gut Problems - Stephanie Zinser - Страница 18

The first and most important thing is not to become dehydrated. This is especially important for babies, young children and the elderly, who dehydrate far more quickly than adults. Dehydration has all sorts of serious knock-on effects as it upsets the finely tuned balance of body salts and essential nutrients; in serious cases it can even lead to brain damage and death. An infant or child with diarrhoea is soon at significant risk of dehydration, so always take action quickly and seek medical help if it persists for more than 6 hours. Babies cannot tell you how they feel, but in infants under 18 months old, the fontanelle (the space between the growing skull bones that can be felt on the top of a baby’s head) may look sunken. In both babies and adults the urine will be a dark yellow colour and hardly any will be produced at all. Other symptoms include having a dry mouth and lips, and lethargy.