Juniper Publishers Agricultural Research Journal

  Journal of Agriculture Research -  Juniper Publishers Humans maintain their water balance by consuming an equal amount of water to that which is excreted. The body keeps water in a balanced state by controlling intake and excretion. However, the body can suffer from either a negative or a positive water balance. Negative water balance, dehydration, is defined as a reduction of water and salt in varying proportions compared with the normal state, which may be caused by failure to replace obligatory water losses or failure of the regulatory mechanism. Dehydration leads to hypernatremia, which can be caused by one or more of the following: water loss in excess of sodium chloride, inadequate water intake, addition of sodium chloride (salt poisoning), osmotic diuresis (with glucosuria), and diuretic therapy when free water intake is inadequate [ 2 , 3 ]. When the body loses salt to a greater extent than that of water, hyponatremic dehydration occurs [ 2 ]. Thirst drive...