Each summer I wonder about the poet who penned the “Merry Month of May”. Had he ventured east beyond the Suez, the poem would not have happened.

In our part of the globe, except for the hilly areas, summer in general and May in particular are regarded as months of discomfort for a host of reasons, the diseases not being the least of them.

Most of these diseases are caused by contaminated water and carelessness on part of the patients.

Water is a life sustainer. In the human body, water is present in all tissues. Even the seemingly hard tissues like bones and teeth contain 10 per cent to 20 per cent water. Thus we need water almost all the time, since we lose water even as we breathe. And in the summer heat, we lose even more water and to quench thirst, we tend to any water that’s readily available.

But water being a life sustainer, if we forget that bacteria and viruses too, thrive in it, we have to pay the price.

So what can you do to avoid dehydration and water-borne diseases? Here are some golden rules:

• Drink water for bodily nourishment

Water acts as a carrier in the human body and needs to be replenished regularly.On an average, an adult requires 13 glasses of water daily.

• Drink water regularly, not just when you are thirsty

A modest deficiency in the level of our body fluids can cause a critical difference. With a loss of just 5 per cent of body fluids, perceptible symptoms of dehydration appear. Such a small loss can also surprisingly reduce our capacity for work by 20 to 30 per cent.

... contd.