2019 March Articles Archives

Top Health Benefits of Drinking Water

Drinking water is about so much more than just quenching your thirst. Your body needs water to stay healthy, inside and out. Here are some great reasons to stay hydrated; by drinking enough water every day.

Why You Need Water

Every part of your body needs water in order to work properly – that includes your organs, your tissues and your cells. Your body loses water through respiration (breathing), perspiration (sweating), and digestion (processing food). You lose even more when you exercise or when you’re sick. That means you need to make sure you drink enough water each day, to keep your system healthy and going.

Fast Facts about Water

Water makes up about 60% of your body weight.
Water helps to regulate your body temperature.
Water lubricates your joints and keeps your tissues moist.
Drinking water improves your mood, your energy levels and your ability to think clearly.
Just a 2% drop in your body’s water levels can cause a 20% decrease in mental and physical performance.
Keeping your body hydrated will also keep your skin looking healthy and youthful.
You get about 20% of the water your body needs from the food you eat, and 10% as a by-product of digestion. So, you need to get the other 70% by drinking water or other fluids.
Herbal teas, like Rooibos, also count towards your water intake.
Drinking water with your meals is good for you, because water helps with digestion.
Alcohol has a very dehydrating effect, so if you’re drinking a beer or cocktail, be sure to drink some water with it as well.

What Happens if you Don’t Drink Enough Water?

If your body isn’t getting enough water, you will become dehydrated. You’ll feel symptoms like thirst, headaches, sore joints and muscles, weakness and fatigue. You might also have trouble concentrating, or feel especially moody. The best solution is to slowly drink a large glass of water, or a cup of caffeine-free tea like Rooibos.

If you experience more severe dehydration, which can happen if you lose a lot of fluids from being ill or overexerting yourself, seek medical attention immediately. Dehydration can be very dangerous if it isn’t treated properly.

How Much Water do you Need?

Infants and young children need about 1 litre of fluid a day, while older kids and teenagers need 1.5 to 2 litres. Adult women generally need 2 litres and men need up to 2.5 litres daily.

Kids get dehydrated faster than adults, so make sure your children know how important it is to drink water during the school day – especially if they are playing sports. You can even make this “boring” beverage more appealing to your family, by adding lemon slices and mint leaves to sparkling water – much healthier and more hydrating than soda!

Sources

12 Interesting Facts about Water. Retrieved from: https://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nutrition/Beverages/12-interesting-water-facts-20120721

4 Healthy Water Facts that will have you Reaching for Another Glass. Retrieved from: https://www.absopure.com/blog/4-healthy-water-facts-will-reaching-another-glass/

What Counts as Water? How to Stay Hydrated. Retrieved from:
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/healthy-beverages#1

Treating TB with the DOT System

DOT, or Directly Observed Therapy, is a system used to help treat patients with active Tuberculosis (TB). The DOT system helps people to stick to the correct schedule for taking their medication, which helps them to make a proper recovery. World TB Day is coming up on March 24, and in the spirit of helping to put a stop to this serious disease, we wanted to share some information on DOT.

How does DOT Work?

The way it works is quite simple. In Directly Observed Therapy, a trained health care worker or another designated person will provide the patient with their prescribed TB medication, and watch the patient swallow every dose.

DOT can be provided by a nurse or a supervised outreach worker from the patient’s local public health department. This usually works best for clinics, home care agencies, correctional facilities, treatment centres, schools, employers and other facilities.

For more complex or intensive treatment plans, a home care agency might provide DOT, or share the responsibility with the local health department

DOT providers must remain objective, and so the patient’s family members must not be expected to provide DOT.

The responsibilities of the DOT provider include:

Delivering the prescribed medication
Watching the patient swallow the medication
Checking for side-effects
Documenting the visit
Answering any questions the patient may have

DOT usually starts at the beginning of TB treatment. The system is especially useful for patients who have to take their medication intermittently, for example 2 or 3 times a week.

Why use DOT?

Some people are more lax in taking their medication, especially once their symptoms start to clear up. However, it’s so important to make sure that TB patients complete their course of medication, in order for it to work properly.

Doctors can’t predict who will take their medication as directed and who won’t. This is where DOT can make a difference:

86 to 90% of people complete their treatment, compared to 61% for people who are not on the DOT system.
Patients are able to finish their treatment as quickly as possible, without unnecessary gaps.
There is a lower risk of developing medication resistance, which can be caused by erratic dosage or incomplete treatment.
There is less chance of the patient spreading TB to others.
There is a lower chance of relapse or treatment failure.

Overall, DOT helps to improve patients’ recovery rates and prevent the further spread of TB, promoting healthier and safer communities.

Your Employee Wellness Programme (EWP) provides you with access to health advice, if you have any questions or want to know more about DOT treatment for TB. For more information about TB, click here.

Sources

Stop TB Partnership | World TB Day. Retrieved from: http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/