Food poisoning-dehydration can be fatal

Food poisoning includes any kind of disease caused by ingestion of food, if the cause is the food itself or a pathogen or toxin contained in foods. The good news is that the body is highly vigilant and in most cases of foodborne illness that responds quickly and drastically to get rid of toxins. The bad news is that the main methods for doing this are diarrhea and vomiting. These work very well, but can be rather unpleasant. Diarrhea and vomiting tend to expel a lot of fluid and increase the risk of dehydration.

Dehydration occurs when your body is loosing fluids faster than you can replace them. When you're in the midst of an attack of food poisoning, you will not be able to drink liquids, or even if you drink them, may not be able to keep them down. Dehydration is a serious medical condition. Significant loss of liquids undermines your body's ability to regulate the internal temperature and maintain an adequate blood volume. If you reduce the volume of blood, the body is able to carry oxygen to all tissues and food.

If dehydration isn't promptly treated, can lead to drops in blood pressure, convulsions, delirium and loss of consciousness.

Here are some symptoms of mild to moderate dehydration:

Dry mouth and a sticky sensation in mouth
Lack of tears
Reduced urine output
Urine is dark yellow
In children, irritability, decreased activity and sometimes drowsy
Headaches
Dizziness or vertigo,

If you or a loved one suffers an attack of food poisoning, and it shows any of these symptoms, you should suspect dehydration. You must provide the fluids, especially water, to replace fluids lost. You should also seek medical attention and are ready to evaluate the condition of the person.

Children, due to their smaller size and the smallest volume of fluid, can lose a fraction of the volume of fluid very quickly. They must be monitored very closely in any episode of vomiting or diarrhea. The elderly and anyone with a serious medical condition are also most vulnerable to complications of dehydration. For anyone in these categories, if they suspected dehydration immediately contact your health care provider.

If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries from dehydration, and it is believed that food poisoning led to dehydration, you may have a legal claim against those responsible for food poisoning. As soon as you can, you should consult an attorney who is experienced in food poisoning claims, for the evaluation of your case.