Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Dehydration causes
Introduction
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Causes
Causes
Common Causes
In humans, dehydration can be caused by a wide range of diseases and states that impair water homeostasis in the body. These include:
- External or stress-related causes
- Prolonged physical activity without consuming adequate water, especially in a hot and/or humid environment
- Prolonged exposure to dry air, e.g., in high-flying airplanes (5-15% r.h.)
- Survival situations, especially desert survival conditions
- Blood loss or hypotension due to physical trauma
- Diarrhea
- Hyperthermia
- Shock (hypovolemic)
- Vomiting
- Burns
- Lacrimation
- Malnutrition
- Electrolyte disturbance
- Hypernatremia (also caused by dehydration)
- Hyponatremia, especially from restricted salt diets
- Consumption of alcohol, caffeine or other diuretic substances.
- Fasting
- Recent rapid weight loss may reflect progressive depletion of fluid volume. (The loss of 1 L of fluid results in a weight loss of 1 kg, or 2.2 lb.)[1]
- Patient refusal of nutrition and hydration
- Electrolyte disturbance
- Other causes of obligate water loss
- Severe hyperglycemia, especially in Diabetes mellitus
Causes by Organ System
| Cardiovascular | No underlying causes |
| Chemical/Poisoning | No underlying causes |
| Dental | No underlying causes |
| Dermatologic | No underlying causes |
| Drug Side Effect | Bicalutamide, Cidofovir, Doxorubicin Hydrochloride, Cefpodoxime, Panitumumab, Pralatrexate, Ritonavir, Siltuximab, Tiagabine |
| Ear Nose Throat | No underlying causes |
| Endocrine | Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 |
| Environmental | No underlying causes |
| Gastroenterologic | No underlying causes |
| Genetic | No underlying causes |
| Hematologic | No underlying causes |
| Iatrogenic | No underlying causes |
| Infectious Disease | No underlying causes |
| Musculoskeletal/Orthopedic | No underlying causes |
| Neurologic | No underlying causes |
| Nutritional/Metabolic | No underlying causes |
| Obstetric/Gynecologic | No underlying causes |
| Oncologic | No underlying causes |
| Ophthalmologic | No underlying causes |
| Overdose/Toxicity | No underlying causes |
| Psychiatric | No underlying causes |
| Pulmonary | No underlying causes |
| Renal/Electrolyte | No underlying causes |
| Rheumatology/Immunology/Allergy | No underlying causes |
| Sexual | No underlying causes |
| Trauma | No underlying causes |
| Urologic | No underlying causes |
| Miscellaneous | No underlying causes |
Causes in Alphabetical Order
References
References
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [2] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Saumya Easaw, M.B.B.S.[3]