By Ed Lash
A sufficient amount of water is important for everyone, especially for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). According to an issue of the University of California at Berkely Wellness Letter, “Water is the basis of all body fluids, including digestive juices, blood, urine, lymph, and perspiration. All cell processes and all organ functions depend on it. It’s essential as a lubricant: as the basis of saliva, mucous secretions through-out the body, and the fluids that bathe the joints. Water is needed to keep food moving through the intestinal tract and to eliminate wastes; it helps prevent constipation. Water also helps regulate body temperature by distributing heat and cooling the body via perspiration.”
More than 70% of solid body tissue is made of water, which helps to cushion joints, and protect organs and tissues. Your brain, for example, must have adequate water to operate at its best. When dehydration goes on for too long, the brain cells begin to shrink and memory, or cognitive dysfunction, may be affected. Water also helps the blood carry oxygen and nutrients to body tissue and it can help reduce the tendency for stone formation in the urinary pathways. Bladder problems, which are quite common with MS, can only be worse without a good amount of water—six to eight glasses of water per day is recommended. Insufficient water intake may also result in, or increase, fatigue.
Loss of water occurs constantly by way of exhaled air, which accounts for the loss of about a pint of water daily. Loss of water through perspiration accounts for one to two pints daily. If you’re exercising or doing physical work in the heat, the loss can be much more. When the body begins to get short of water, heat cramps may occur or, as with some of us, leg cramps during the day or at night. In addition, insufficient fluid intake, or dehydration, is a known trigger for an MS flare-up because it often results in a lack of perspiration and a rise in body temperature. Extra water may be needed with warmer temperatures, especially if a person is physically active.
You will not always feel thirsty if your body needs fluids. During physical activity you may become significantly dehydrated before you feel thirsty. In unusual circumstances, as with diarrhea, vomiting, or hemorrhage, there is a sudden excessive loss of water causing you to become thirsty. Also, when you drink, your thirst will feel quenched long before your fluid loss is really replenished.
We get some water from the foods we eat, especially fruits and vegetables, many of which are 85% to 96% water. Some water is produced as a by-product of metabolism, which are chemical changes continually going on in the cells of the body. But six to eight glasses of liquid—including juices, milk, and soups—are usually needed to make up the balance. Alcoholic drinks, and coffee, tea or colas are not ideal for this purpose because they have a diuretic effect—that is, they have a tendency to make you lose water more quickly. And, according to the University of Minnesota, professor of public health, Judith Brown, “Sugar actually causes you to lose fluid. Nothing makes you thirstier than Coke.”
Also keep in mind that laxatives, such as Metamucil (psyllium), absorb water, pulling it into the large intestine and creating a further need for water.
An additional advantage of water over other drinks, especially between meals, is that water makes you feel full, does not present added calories and often provides a valuable source of minerals such as calcium, chromium, zinc, and magnesium. Just as the cheapest foods (such as potatoes, carrots, rice, dried beans, fruits, and vegetables) are often the most healthful, so is the cheapest drink—water.
Self-help is not intended to replace medical treatment, but should be used together with the help of all appropriate professionals in a team effort.
Ed Lash is a United Spinal member who lives in Trumbull, Connecticut. This article is adapted from his book, Multiple Sclerosis…A Patient’s View (Vantage Press 2001), which is available by e-mail at edlash.ms.selfhelp@juno.com, or by phone at 203- 445-0118.
