Water and Health: Beating Dehydration

Do you have patients who suffer from these symptoms?

If so, then keep reading… Each of the above symptoms can be linked to ONE common health problem–possibly the BIGGEST problem in the world!

 *********

Happy New Year everyone!  Are you holding strong with your New Year’s resolutions? I set some goals, which have inspired me to do a little research.

Like the majority of the population, “losing a little weight” was at the top of my list of accomplishments for 2013. I met with a fitness coach to map out a plan on how I would accomplish my goal, and she sent me home with only two items to focus on for an entire week.

Drink three liters of water per day

Eliminate sugar and white flour

I’ll admit, I was a little shocked… I thought she would give me a big elaborate eating plan and exercise program. But, NO­–she started me out with a daily two-item checklist.

I followed her plan diligently for the first week and also did a lot of reading about the benefits of water—from both a Western and TCM perspective.

Did you know the majority of our patients are chronically dehydrated? I’m embarrassed to admit I have dehydrated myself. This week I’ve asked patients about their water intake. Eight out of ten were not drinking enough water.

Some facts to ponder:

• 60% of the human body consists of water
• Lean muscle tissue contains 75% water
• The brain contains 75% water
• Body fat is 10% water
• Bone is 22% water
• 83% of our blood is water
• Each day, humans need to replace 2.4 liters of water

*Reports vary, so my percentages are approximate.

Most of the body’s water is found within the cells. The rest is found in blood vessels and in the spaces between the cells (interstitial spaces). Dehydration occurs when the amount of water leaving the body is greater than the amount taken in. We lose water from the body when breathing, sweating, urinating and having a bowel movement.

Have you ever found yourself at the end of the day, sadly realizing you hardly drank any water? I find this to be true not only for many patients but sometimes even for myself. This lifestyle pattern, over time, leads to:

Chronic Dehydration

Most people have no idea they are experiencing chronic dehydration. Acute dehydration is pretty easy to watch for because it usually occurs with severe vomiting or diarrhea. (We’ll talk about symptoms of “chronic” dehydration further below.)

TCM Pattern Analysis

Whether you are thinking of TCM in the role of pattern identification or in the role of each organ system, you cannot discount the importance of drinking water.

Let’s take a quick look at the yin channels:

Without enough water, the Chinese organ systems cannot function at optimum capacity, which leads to the formation of typical TCM pattern presentations—including the invasion of phlegm, damp, cold, heat, and toxicity.

Blood stagnation is a common pattern in an acupuncture clinic because so many patients present with pain-related issues. Considering 83% of our blood is composed of water, imagine the effects if we don’t replenish water regularly. If the body doesn’t have enough blood, then movement through the vessels becomes sluggish and “stagnant.” Pain is the primary symptom of blood stagnation. I’m sure you can relate to the heavy sluggish feeling throughout the body when the spleen is overloaded with “dampness.” Dampness kind of feels like pudding is moving through the body–slow and hesitant. Water is a perfect cleansing agent for dampness. Obviously, all 12 organ systems function better with the addition of a healthy supply of water on a daily basis.

Western Symptom Analysis

Blood travels 12,000 miles per day through the blood vessels and is responsible for delivering the necessary substances to the cells throughout the body. Chronic dehydration keeps the body from functioning at maximum capacity. If the blood is supposed to travel 12,000 miles but can’t, then major functioning problems will occur.

Some of the symptoms of chronic (even mild) dehydration are as follows:

Fatigue: Slow enzyme activity. Enzymes travel through the bloodstream.

Tension headaches: Tension headaches often come because of fatigue and toxic build up in the muscles. Fatigue and toxicity are both side effects of chronic dehydration.

Constipation: Waste moves slowly through the large intestine when water intake is decreased. Drinking water causes the motilin to be secreted. Motilin is a hormone that causes rhythmic contractions in the intestines leading to regular bowel movements.

Stomach Ulcers: Digestive juices are made from water. If secretion of digestive fluids decreases, the stomach becomes more acidic and ulcerations occur.

High Cholesterol: Dehydration causes fluid to release from the lining of the cells. The body has a natural protection mechanism to keep the cells from leaking too much cellular fluid. Excess cholesterol is formed to line the cell as a protective sealant to keep water in.

Respiratory Problems: Mucous membranes lining the mouth and nose need to be moist in order to protect against the inhalation of pathogens. Histamine, a chemical that produces symptoms of an allergic reaction, increases exponentially as the body loses more and more water. According to some sources, chronic dehydration is the primary causes of allergies and asthma in the human body.

Excess Weight/Obesity: Fatigue is an indication that cells are lacking in water. Often people rely on gaining energy from food rather than water—leading them to overeat when in reality they are just thirsty.

Eczema/Skin Disorders: Sweat helps to excrete toxins from the body. Not enough water means not enough sweat. With dehydration, toxins are not eliminated properly through the skin, making the skin vulnerable to all kinds of skin disorders.

UTI/Cystitis: If toxins in the urine are not sufficiently diluted, they attack the urinary mucous membranes. When the body is dehydrated, toxins are not eliminated and accumulate as acid waste, creating an environment that breeds bacteria—leading to infection, inflammation, and pain.

Joint Pain and Weakness: Cartilage is mainly composed of water. Joints have cartilage for padding, to protect bone structures and provide lubrication. Dehydration causes weakness of the cartilage and slows the process of joint repair.

Low Blood Pressure: Too little water leads to not enough blood volume to completely fill the arteries, veins, and capillaries.

High Blood Pressure: When the body is dehydrated, blood thickens and causes resistance in the blood flow. This leads to high blood pressure.

Clinical Relevance

Analyze yourself and your patients regarding “chronic dehydration.” It’s time to stand up on your pedestal and strongly encourage drinking more water. Your tough love will make a huge difference in their health.

I treat a lot of chronic pain patients. Some of them are addicted to acupuncture and love to come in for their regular visits, even if their progression is at a standstill. These patients are going to be the first group that hears my lecture. I’m going to INSIST they drink 3 liters of water per day!

“Dry mouth is not the only sign of dehydration; waiting to get thirsty is wrong.”

Lucky for me, my fitness coach gave me the “tough love” lecture about drinking more water.  I followed her guidance and this is what happened:

#1: Running to the bathroom a LOT. (Natural side effect of drinking water, huh?)

#2: Sleeping better.

#3: Less aches and pains.

#4: Clear mind.

#5: More energy.

#6: AND—I lost 15 pounds!

Effects of Dehydration on Blood

“Chronic Dehydration” plays an important role with regards to blood-related TCM patterns. Our Western analysis told us that 83% of the blood in the body is WATER.

Today we are going to continue our discussion on Chronic Dehydration in relation to blood in TCM.

I did a little research on the subject of blood in one of my favorite books. Okay, I’ll admit I’m a little nerdy. How many of you like to curl up in a big comfy chair, reading “A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine” in your spare time?

I LOVE reading this book! The words and explanations crack me up. When I was in college, my friends and I used to come up with random phrases from the TCM dictionary and try to stump the class. Everyone would get a chuckle. Now days, I don’t have many to chuckle with ‘in person’ because most of my colleagues have scattered around the world. Hopefully today, you and I can chuckle together.

The Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine has dedicated 16 pages toward blood-related TCM problems. Let’s take a look at a few.

Heat in the blood:

   *  Blood Arrow: Spontaneous bleeding from the pores–that
sometimes spews out like an arrow from the body.
   *  Blood Chest Bind: Masses in the chest are known as
stagnant blood caused by heat.
   *  Blood Concretion: Abdominal lumps from an accumulation of stagnant blood, which has congested in the channel.

Cold in the blood:

•  Blood Mounting: Painful hardness in the lower abdomen which can be accompanied by black stool and/or swelling of the scrotum from past injury.
•  Blood Cold: Cold causes blood to congeal. What would happen if you put blood in the refrigerator? It would clot.

Not enough blood:

• Blood Thirst: Not enough blood in the body–headache, miscarriage, deafness, lumbar pain, lack of strength in the extremities. (This reminds me of a vampire thirsting for blood.)
• Blood Desiccation Menstrual Block: A woman who has had extreme blood loss. Her periods gradually become lighter and lighter, to the point where she has none. Some may think they are going through early menopause, when in fact they are deficient in blood.

Blood not moving:

• Blood Drum: When blood stagnation keeps fluids from moving in the abdomen resulting in a greatly enlarged abdomen with blue veins protruding at the surface.
• Blood Mole: Found on the face, neck and trunk. When squeezed they bleed. (I’m thinking this is a pimple!)
• Blood Stasis Wilting: Stagnant blood in the joints from past injuries.

Blood not staying put:

• Blood Ejection: Vomiting blood.
• Blood Failing to stay in the channels: Spontaneous bleeding such as nosebleeds; bloody stool or urine.
• Blood Flying to the Eye: Red blood vessels in the eye.

Quote: “All the bowels and viscera and all parts of the body rely on the blood for nourishment.”

The baseline definition of “blood” links the following organs as important team players in the role of creating and moving blood: Spleen, Stomach, Heart, Lung, and Liver. Another organ to consider is the Triple Energizer because of its relation to fluids.  If you have been an acupuncturist for any amount of time, you realize a patient who comes in with imbalances to a combination of these organs will present with a plethora of symptoms. Often these patients will have chronic pain–and more than likely “Chronic Dehydration.”

Quote: “Blood is the mother of qi. The nourishing action of blood is necessary for the activity of qi.”

If blood does not function properly, then qi cannot move well either. As acupuncture practitioners, our primary purpose is to put the body back into balance by moving qi and blood in the meridian systems.

The question to ask is this: How are we going to move qi if the patient doesn’t drink enough water to keep the blood flowing?

My own analysis:

It is absolutely necessary that patients drink enough water to help in the treatment process. I am realizing that almost every patient with CHRONIC PAIN also suffers from “Chronic Dehydration.”

These patients come in with the same problems, year after year… You do your very best to take good care of them, but if they don’t take care of themselves by drinking plenty of water, your hands are partially tied as a practitioner. You can only work with the resources that are available to you. Blood that doesn’t have enough water is STAGNANT blood and it just doesn’t move well.

Case Studies: Chronic Dehydration and Water Intake

It’s been seven weeks since I began researching and writing this series about Chronic Dehydration. Drinking 3 liters of water has been life-changing on so many levels.

1. 

   Personally, I feel fantastic! Aches and pains have diminished, brain function has improved, and my digestive system feels so clean. The added BONUS–I’ve lost 30 pounds!
2. My patients are happy. Most people know how important it is to drink water–but having a gentle reminder with evidence to reinforce this important healthy lifestyle habit goes a long way. I have copies of “New Year’s Resolutions…They can be Hard to Swallow! Part 1” in my waiting room. I insist everyone read it.
3. AcuGraph analysis of patients over a one-year period taught me how to better analyze the effects of Chronic Dehydration in my patients.

Let’s take a look at two patients.

Case Study #1:

Symptoms: Chronic hives, pain in the liver, low back pain, headaches which pulsate through the eye, muscle twitching, chronic phlegm, obesity.

TCM Diagnosis: Spleen Qi Deficiency; Liver Qi Stagnation with Phlegm Damp leading to Liver Yang Rising and Toxic Heat.

This patient has been treated 2-3 times per month for the last year. Acupuncture and herbal medicine make a shift in this patient’s general health, but lifestyle choices bring the symptoms back–even though the patient is committed to consistent acupuncture. Progress is slow because we seem to take one step forward in the clinic and then she takes one step backward before her next treatment.

After reviewing over a year’s worth of graphs, I found some interesting parallels.

The majority of the time the Spleen channel measured HIGH.

• The spleen was high 17 times within the last year.
• My experience shows that a high Spleen channel usually related to dampness.
• It is the Spleen’s job to transform the food we eat into the proper nutrients for the body. If the Spleen is EXCESS, meaning the channel is overloaded and full, food cannot digest properly. This leads to swelling, edema, poor digestion, etc.

The majority of the time the Stomach channel measured HIGH.

• The Spleen and the Stomach are paired organs, which means they are supposed to work together as a team. When food is consumed, the Spleen is supposed to help transform it by expelling nutrients and creating qi for the body.
• In her case, the Spleen could not adequately support transformation and transportation of food substances, which leads to excess sitting in the Stomach channel.
• When excess undigested food sits in the stomach for too long it begins to fester and heat accumulates in the stomach. Heat accumulation leads to the formation of toxins.

The majority of the time her Triple Energizer measured LOW.

• The Triple Energizer has an important role to play in fluid transformation—including the movement of fluids throughout the body, transporting hormones, and movement of fluid in the interstitial spaces around the organs.
• The Triple Energizer is weak because it is overworked. Imagine the Triple Energizer as a pump, responsible for moving fluids. Without enough fluid, the pump works full time without an abundance of water.  For this patient, the pump is TIRED.
• This patient has an accumulation of toxins in her body, which are manifesting in hives, headaches and obesity. Movement of fluids is crucial for eliminating toxicity.

The majority of the time the Liver channel measured LOW.

• The liver is in charge of blood and movement of qi in all directions. Because the blood isn’t moving very well, neither is the qi.
• Because the blood isn’t moving, there is an accumulation of heat, which is manifesting in hives and internal wind (muscle twitching).

I am convinced that if this patient drank more water, a lot of problems would be resolved. Water would help to flush dampness, phlegm and toxins out of the system–and create better blood flow. Blood and qi have a synergistic relationship—when one moves the other follows.

Results: At the beginning of the year, this patient and I sat down and had a serious conversation about water. The patient promised to drink 3 liters of water per day until the next treatment. Within two weeks, hives diminished considerably and the patient reported feeling very little pain. (*The graphs didn’t change dramatically, but that is okay.  We have begun the process of flushing out the patient’s system.) After four weeks of daily increased water intake, the hives were nearly non-existent.

Case Study #2:

Symptoms: Fibromyalgia–chronic pain in the neck, shoulders, low back, arms, and knees; acid reflux; irritability; dry skin; dry eyes; headaches; muscle spasms.

TCM Diagnosis: Liver Blood/Yin Deficiency, Spleen Deficiency, Stomach Fire.

This patient has been treated 2-3 times per month for the last two years. She leads a high-stress life. Acupuncture relieves her pain and reduces her stress for a time. She eats fairly well–not a lot of sugar or processed foods. She comes in regularly to “get back on track.”

Sometimes this patient’s graph looks like this.

Often the averages are too low to get an accurate reading.

• Regardless of probe pressure, measurements just won’t go up. You can “hear” the hesitation while graphing each channel. It sounds like a hard-working motor that just isn’t getting anywhere.
• Her channels are too empty to get a good reading.
• Low graph readings are common when patients are not drinking enough water. It’s hard to measure electrical skin conductance when there isn’t enough water in the body.

Her analysis for the last year looked like this.

The Spleen channel fluctuated from high to low–but was nearly ALWAYS out of Balance.

• Even though she eats a fairly healthy diet, her spleen is taxed. It’s in charge of transforming and transporting the food nutrients.
• Water is a necessary ingredient to help in this process.

The majority of the time the Stomach was high.

• She suffers from stomach heat quite often–not because of a poor diet.
• Again… More water would cool the stomach.

The majority of the time the Triple Energizer was Low.

• This fits the same analysis as for the previous case study.
• The Triple Energizer is in charge of waterways. If the waterways have dried up, then the pump is tired.

The majority of the time the Liver was High.

• Liver qi is supposed to move all directions in the body. Qi follows blood. If the blood isn’t moving the way it should, then qi doesn’t move either.
• When Liver qi is forced to become stagnant for too long, it flares up and causes all kinds of havoc: anger and irritability, headaches, etc.

Drinking more water is so important for this patient!

Results: Early in January, I sat down and had “The Talk” with her about water. I sent her home with a copy of the dehydration information from the first section above.  She made a commitment to increase her water intake to a minimum of 2 liters per day. What happened? Her energy level improved, her disposition improved, her headaches diminished, and her fibromyalgia pain decreased by half.

I love having the ability to analyze my patients graphing history. By looking at a year of graphs, I was able to distinguish chronic problem areas and make logical decisions for changes in my treatment strategies. I can’t wait to see what the upcoming year will bring for my Chronic Dehydration patients in the way of graph analysis.

AcuGraph continues to help me analyze my patient’s needs so I can give the best treatment possible.

Thanks for joining in my quest for further knowledge.

Kimberly Thompson, L.Ac.

kimberly@miridiatech.com

Acupuncture Research Analyst

---

Related Reading

• How to Turn your Patients into Wellness Patients
• Self-Care on Vacation: Try this Easy Protocol!
• A Calming Aid for Seasonal Struggles