Are you drinking enough water?

Though I am a medical transcriptionist, I write more on software and technology than medical articles. My blog is showing only one article in “Medical” column, so this is the second and it is from my experience.

A month or two ago, I got throat infection from drinking contaminated water in my office.  It took three days to resolve and return to my job.  After that, I significantly reduced my water intake in fear of getting the infection again as it was so painful with cough, temporary loss of voice, and chest pain.  Few weeks ago, I started developing back pain.  Sometimes, it was so severe that I needed to go to the office corridor and take a brisk walk to get rid of the pain.  Slowly, the pain started radiating to the front part of the belly.  Few days ago, I got a severe pain with sweating and I was unable to tolerate the pain.  I left the office and went directly to the clinic.  Doctor gave me some painkiller and told me to come in the morning for a scanning.  As appendicitis was running in my family history, I thought I might have gotten appendicitis.

Next day, doctor done an ultrasonography and told me that I got stones in both kidneys, which are ranging from 5 mm-8 mm.  He advised me to drink plenty of water and avoid spinach and tomato and cut down the intake of dairy products.  He told me that the stones will dilute in water and go away in urine.

From the above experience, I realized that cutting down the water can harm our health this much  Then, I started browsing the medical sites to gather the info about kidney stones and precautions to take.

So, are you drinking enough water daily? If not, start drinking water at least two liters a day.  Mayo Clinic article on water describes that one should drink at least 1.9 liters or eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily.  It tells that:

Water is your body’s principal chemical component, making up, on average, 60 percent of your body weight. Every system in your body depends on water. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.

So, keep an eye on your water intake, otherwise you may end up developing some illness.