this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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I mean, I've heard that you can typically only survive about three days without water, but what exactly causes your body to fail when you dehydrate too much?

I guess one point is lack of salts (if you sweat a lot) but I'm specifically wondering about lack of water (although a closer explanation about how lack of salts will kill you is also appreciated)

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[–] insomniac@vlemmy.net 11 points 1 year ago

Your bladder and kidneys need water to function. Initially, your kidneys slow sending water to your bladder which is why your pee turns dark. Then you start losing water in your blood to keep organs functioning but the decrease in blood volume causes your blood pressure to drop. This makes pumping blood increasingly difficult for your heart so your body will start sending less blood to your organs. This starts damaging all your organs and eventually your kidneys stop filtering your blood. Toxins build up in your brain that’s already not getting enough blood and eventually shuts down and you die.