Why do cancer patients drink more water?
First of all, doctors ask cancer patients to drink more water, the main purpose is to reduce the damage of drugs to the kidneys through a lot of metabolism. Usually, most drugs will be metabolized by the liver and eventually excreted by the kidney, and chemotherapy drugs are no exception.
When high-dose chemotherapy drugs are used, renal tubules are damaged, cells are vacuolated, epithelium is exfoliated, official cavity is enlarged, transparent cast appears, and ammonia urate and creatinine in blood are increased. If you don't drink plenty of water, patients will have bloody cystitis and hematuria.
Therefore, during chemotherapy, it is necessary not only to replenish fluids on time, but also to moderately increase the drinking water of patients, so as to speed up the excretion of drugs and metabolites in the body and reduce the damage to the kidneys.
Secondly, during chemotherapy, patients will have adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite, resulting in insufficient water intake.
If you vomit often, it will also lead to dehydration. Therefore, drinking more water is helpful to supplement the body's needs and reduce the burden on the urinary system.
Last but not least, drinking plenty of water can speed up metabolism and take away cells that have been killed or withered. According to clinical observation, many system reactions such as gastrointestinal tract in patients who drink more water during chemotherapy are lighter and shorter than those in patients who drink less water. This is because the urine volume increases, the toxin is excreted faster, the retention time in the body is shortened, and the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for tumor patients are lighter.
How much do you need to drink?
Since drinking water can accelerate self-metabolism, how much water should cancer patients drink after chemotherapy? The amount of water to drink should be specifically grasped under the guidance of a doctor. There are two main situations:
(a) not in the chemotherapy period
If cancer patients are not treated with chemotherapy, they can drink water according to normal regulations. The water demand of different ages and sexes is different, and the specific water consumption is slightly different. "Reference Intake of Dietary Nutrients for China Residents" suggests that the water to drink besides three meals is:
600-700 ml for 2-3 years old,
Children aged 4-5 should drink 700-800 ml of water.
Hydrate 800ml for 5-7 years old,
7- 10 years old hydrating 1000ml
Adult males need to supplement 1.7L/ day,
Adult female 1.5L/ day.
(2) In the chemotherapy stage
If the drug dose is not large during chemotherapy, drink at least 1500ml-2000ml every day. If tumor patients dissolve rapidly in the process of chemotherapy, a large number of metabolites produced by tumor necrosis are likely to lead to renal insufficiency and renal failure, so this situation requires a lot of water to increase water excretion in the body and promote the excretion of metabolites, so it is necessary to drink 2000ml-3000ml every day, and may even reach 5000ml.
But if the patient is a person with poor heart and kidney function, he can't drink so much water. Otherwise, edema will appear. Instead, he needs to drink less water and help diuretics.
Some people don't have the habit of drinking water often, and always wait until they are thirsty to remember to drink water. This is also a common wrong drinking habit. Pay attention to drinking water at ordinary times, drink water in time according to the situation, and don't wait until you are thirsty. Feeling thirsty means that the body is already in a state of water shortage. This will leave the body in a state of water shortage for a long time, which may damage the internal organs for a long time.
How should cancer patients drink?
As the weather gets hotter, many people start to drink more water. Some people like to drink a lot of water at once, but this behavior is wrong. Ingesting a large amount of water in a short time can easily put too much pressure on our kidneys. If the intake exceeds the amount excreted by the kidney, the kidney can't excrete a large amount of water in time, which will lead to excess water entering the cells, leading to the decrease of blood sodium, which is what people call water poisoning, and even severe convulsions, coma and even life-threatening.
Therefore, it is suggested that cancer patients take small sips of water for many times, each time about 150-200ml, with an interval of about 30-60min. The actual situation is more flexible and need not be too entangled.
Get up in the morning and drink 100- 150ml of cold boiled water after a night's water demand. Some people are used to drinking light salt water and honey water in the morning. But these two kinds of water will increase the intake of salt and sugar, which is not good for health, especially for tumor patients with hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
It should also be noted that during physical exercise or physical activity, attention should be paid to drinking water, and it is best to supplement 200-300ml of water within 40 minutes to 1 hour before exercise; If the intensity of exercise is not great and the amount of sweating is not much, only about 300ml of water needs to be added before and after exercise; In the case of high temperature or strong physical labor, in addition to the corresponding increase in water supply, salt should also be supplemented at the same time.
Drinking water is an important part of maintaining biological metabolism. The human body is 60% water, and water is distributed in all parts of the body, such as inside and outside cells, blood, lymph and skin. Therefore, each of us can't live without water. Water can speed up our metabolism, excrete metabolic waste and make our body healthier.