WATER IN RELATION TO HUMAN HEALTH

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WATER IN RELATION TO HUMAN HEALTH

• Prof. Dr. Faqir Muhammad Anjum (TI)
• Director General

National Institute of Food Science
Technology University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
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Water in life

• 2/3 of body cells contain water
• Water plays pivotal role in
• Body functions and
• Biochemical reactions
• Used as building material in every cell
• Involved in mechanisms for controlling and
  maintaining normal body temperature
• Acts as a medium for carrying
• nutrients to cells
• wastes out of cells

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Water In Life

• Organisms usually contain 60 to 90 water
• Lowest- Plant Seed (20)
• Highest- Jellyfish (99)
• Water helps all organisms in metabolism and
  plants in photosynthesis and support

20 Water
99 Water
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Human body water composition
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Water in Human Body

• Babies and kids have more water () than adults
• 70-80 water during birth, drops to 65 after 1
  year
• Obese people have less water () than skinny
• Muscle is 75 water
• Fat is 20 water
• For this reason, older people (who generally have
  a higher fat have less water than younger
• Women have less water () than men due to
  naturally higher fat content

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Human Body Water Composition By Organ/Tissue
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Human Water Balance
Water input, mL/day Water input, mL/day Water output, mL/day Water output, mL/day
Drinks 1500 Urine 1500
Food 700 Sweat 500
Metabolic water 300 Respiration 400
    Feces 100
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Water Recommended Daily Amount (litres/day)

• Children 1.3-1.7
• Men 3.7
• Women 2.7
• Pregnant women 3.0
• Lactating women 3.8

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Functions of Water in Human Body

• Transports nutrients and oxygen into cells
• Regulates body temperature
• Detoxifies
• Moisturizes the air in lungs
• Helps with metabolism
• Protects vital organ
• Helps organs to absorb nutrients
• Protects and moisturizes our joints

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Fitness and Fat Loss

• Water important for fitness and fat loss due to
• Fills up stomach/ satiety without adding any
  calories
• Dehydration degrades a persons ability to
  exercise and burn calories
• Dehydration reduces protein synthesis required
  for building and/or repair muscles

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Water As A Solvent

• Water contains 1 oxygen atom and 2 hydrogen atoms
  which are covalently bonded
• Water molecule is polar, because electrons are
  not equally shared
• Because water molecule is polar, it can ionize
  substances easily, making it a good solvent
• Water known as The Universal Solvent

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Water As A Way of Transport

• Water is a carrier, distributing essential
  nutrients to cells, such as minerals, vitamins
  and glucose
• Many different substances, such as blood and sap,
  are transported by water
• Sap and blood contain high amounts of water
  making them good solvents
• Being good solvents allows them to dissolve the
  substances they are transporting

Tree Sap
Human Blood Cells
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Water As A Reactant

• Water, being a good solvent, allows many
  reactions to occur
• Used in photosynthesis to make NADPH2, and
  ultimately sugar
• These reactions release oxygen, which is vital to
  human life
• Without water in photosynthesis, organisms unable
  to obtain energy, and life would be impossible

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Water As A Lubricant

• Water is an effective lubricant around joints
• It also acts as a shock absorber for eyes, brain,
  spinal cord and even for the foetus through
  amniotic fluid
• When bones meet at a joint, a fluid between the
  bones is required to prevent scraping against
  each other
• That fluid is called a synovial fluid, which is
  made mainly of water
• Many internal organs have fluid around them to
  keep them protected, e.g.,
• Brain Cerebro-spinal fluid
• Lungs Pleural Fluid
• Eyes Mix of fluids

Synovial Fluid
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Hydrolysis/ Energy Release

• Water is needed to separate (by a process called
  hydrolysis) a phosphate group from adenosine
  triphosphate (ATP) or guanosine triphosphate
  (GTP) to get energy
• Without water hydrolysis is not possible
• ATP H2O Energy ADP Inorganic Phosphate
• GTP H2O Energy GDP Inorganic Phosphate

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Regulation of Body Temperature

• Water has a large heat capacity which helps limit
  changes in body temperature in a warm or a cold
  environment
• Water allows the body to release heat when
  ambient temperature is higher than body
  temperature
• The body begins to sweat, and the evaporation of
  water from the skin surface very efficiently
  cools the body

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Regulation of Body Temperature
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Metabolism

• Water is the engine of metabolism
• Participates in the biochemical break-down of
  what we eat

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Waste Removal

• Water removes waste products including toxins
  that the organs cells reject, and removes them
  through urines and faeces

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Treatment of Polycystic kidney disease (PKD)

• Polycystic kidney disease - Genetic disease that
  occurs in 1 among 500 individuals and leads to
  kidney failure in about half of affected
  individuals
• PKD-affected kidney cells divide and multiply
  inappropriately, and form fluid-filled sacs
  called cysts
• Kidney cysts continue to grow throughout life,
  destroying normal kidney tissue, leading to
  kidney failure
• Drinking high amounts of water can slow the
  abnormal cysts growth

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Water Quality

• All people, irrespective of their stage of
  development and social and economic condition,
  have the right to access to safe drinking water
  in quantities and of a quality equal to their
  basic needs
• WHO recognizes that access to adequate water
  supplies is a fundamental human right
• Water-related diseases are a human tragedy,
  killing millions of people each year (account for
  80 of all deaths in developing countries)

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Chemical contamination in Water and Human Health

• Common chemical contaminants include
• Nitrates
• Arsenic
• Fluoride
• Prevalence of arsenic and fluoride in drinking
  water is known to cause cancer of lungs, bladder,
  still births, post neonatal mortality, Ischemic
  heart diseases (heart attack), diabetes mellitus
  etc.

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Nitrates

• Bacteria in drinking water in the human body can
  transform nitrates/ nitrites into nitrosamines, a
  compound formed by the reaction between nitrite
  and secondary amines
• Blue-baby syndrome (methemoglobinemia) is caused
  by exposure to elevated levels of nitrite in
  infants less than 6 months old
• Bloods ability to carry oxygen is affected
• result in a bluish color in the infants skin

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Arsenic

• Various studies have been conducted in arsenic
  affected countries - notably Argentina, Chile,
  China, Japan, and Taiwan - to find the potential
  of arsenic exposure to cause development of
  cancer
• Continuous arsenic exposure canlead people to
  develop arsenicosis,which in turn elevates the
  riskof cancer

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Arsenic

• Arsenic ingestion increases risk of lungs and
  kidney cancer
• Skin lesions are the most common manifestations
  in arsenicosis patients

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Fluoride

• Fluorosis - Ingestion of excess fluoride, most
  commonly in drinking-water affects
• Teeth
• Bones
• Moderate amounts lead to dental effects
• Moderate-level chronic exposure (above 1.5 mg/L
  of water - the WHO guideline value for fluoride
  in water) is more common
• Long-term ingestion of large amounts can lead to
  severe skeletal problems
• Fluorides lower the intelligence capacity of
  humans
• Children are more susceptible to fluoride
  toxicity

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Safe levels of chemical contaminants in drinking
water
Parameter BIS Guideline value (maximum) General health effects
pH 6.5-8.5 Affects mucous membrane, corrosion
Nitrate 100mg/ L Blue baby disease
Fluoride 1.5mg/L Dental and skeletal fluorosis
Arsenic 0.05mg/L Carcinogenic
Lead 0.05mg/L Damage kidney
Pesticide 0.001mg/L Affects central nervous system
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Pharmaceuticals and Water Quality
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Water and Sanitation-related Diseases
Group Diseases Group Diseases
Water-borne diseases (diseases transmitted by water) Cholera Typhoid Bacillary dysentery Infectious hepatitis Giardiasis
Water-washed diseases (caused by lack of water) Scabies Skin sepsis and ulcers Yaws Leprosy Lice and thypus Trachoma Dysenteries Ascariasis Parathphoid
Water based diseases Schistomiasis Dracunuliasis Bilharziosis Filariasis Threadworm
Water-related insect vector diseases Yellow fever, Dengue fever, Bancroftian filariasis, Malaria Onchocerciasis
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Water-borne Diseases

• As per USAID report, an estimated 250,000 child
  deaths occur each year in Pakistan due to
  water-borne disease
• A study conducted by UNICEF found that 20-40 of
  the hospital beds in Pakistan are occupied by
  patients suffering from water-related diseases,
  such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery and
  hepatitis, which are responsible for one third of
  all deaths
• (Pak-SCEA 2006)

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Microbial Quality Standards for Drinking Water

• Water containing maximum 100 bacteria and no
  single coliform, considered safe for drinking
• Microbiological standards applied to determine
  safety of water
• Drinking water must meet defined standards
  otherwise poor quality water hazardous to health
• Hence, improvement in drinking water quality
  results in substantial reduction in disease
  prevalence

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Water Deficiency / Dehydration

• Being 2 dehydrated can seriously degrade
  physical and mental functions
• Being 15 dehydrated is likely to be lethal

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Water deficiency symptoms
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Diseases caused by dehydration over a long period
of time

• Symptoms of mild health problems
• Digestive problems - constipation, bad breath,
  acnes
• Skin disorders - dryness, dull-looking, sensitive
• Others - fatigue and lower concentration level
• Symptoms of more severe health problems
• Prolonged dehydration could contribute to
  arthritis, migraine and the malfunctioning of the
  digestive system
• Insufficient water intake results in inefficient
  toxin removal, which may induce high uric acid
  diabetes liver, kidney and heart diseases high
  blood pressure and even intestinal cancer
• It may accelerate aging in the long run

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Signs of Dehydration

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Arthritis
• High cholesterol/ heart problems
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Peptic Ulcers
• Angina
• Migraines
• Obesity and weight control problems
• Water retention
• Chronic back pain

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Effects of Water Deficiency

• Low blood pressure
• Clotting of blood
• Kidney malfunction
• Severe constipation 

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 Hyperhydration- water intoxication

• When too much water enters the body's cells, the
  tissues swell
• Cells try to maintain concentration gradient
• Excess water outside the cells (the serum) draws
  out sodium from within the cells into serum in an
  attempt to re-establish the necessary
  concentration
• Kidneys can tolerate about 17 litres water in a
  day
• Excessive ingestion of water and other liquids
  resulted in extra work for the body
• Signs of water intoxication
• Hyponatriemya - decreased amount of natrium in
  blood)
• Rubdomiolysis - damage of muscularity (collapse
  of skeleton) , acute incompetence of kidneys

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Hyponatremia

• Hyponatremia, a metabolic condition in which
  there is not enough sodium in body fluids outside
  the cells
• It is most common electrolyte disorder in the U.
  S.
• In hyponatremia, the imbalance of water to salt
  is caused by one of three conditions
• Euvolemic hyponatremia- total body water
  increases, but the body's sodium content stays
  the same
• Hypervolemic hyponatremia- both sodium and water
  content in the body increase, but the water gain
  is greater
• Hypovolemic hyponatremia- water and sodium are
  both lost from the body, but the sodium loss is
  greater

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Rhabdomyolysis

• Breakdown of muscle fibers result in the release
  myoglobin into the bloodstream
• Some of these are harmful to kidneys and
  frequently result in kidney damage
• Rhabdomyolysis affects about one out of 10,000
  people in the United States, with slighter higher
  incidence in men
• Rhabdomyolysis accounts for an estimated eight to
  fifteen percent of cases of acute renal failure
• About five percent of rhabdomyolysis cases result
  in death
• There are two crucial factors involved in the
  development of myoglobinuric ARF (acute renal
  failure)
• Hypo-volemia/dehydration
• Aciduria

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Situation of Drinking Water in Pakistan

• Water and sanitation are ignored sector sin
  Pakistan
• Majority of Pakistani people do not have access
  to safe drinking water and lack satisfactory
  sanitation systems
• In 2005, approximately 38.5 million people did
  not have access to safe drinking water and
  approximately 50.7 million people lacked access
  to improved sanitation facilities in Pakistan
• With the same trend, by 2015, 52.8 million people
  will be deprived of safe drinking water and 43.2
  million people will be lacking adequate
  sanitation facilities in Pakistan
• Khan and Javed (2007)

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Situation of Drinking Water in Pakistan

• Hence quality of drinking water in Pakistan far
  from being satisfactory
• Rivers and sub-soil water contaminated due to
  disposal of untreated domestic and industrial
  fluid wastes
• Contamination starts right in the mountains
• Tourists to the hill stations contribute to
  garbage
• Shandur Festival, at 12,520 ft. altitude gathers
  almost 20,000 people
• Produce around 5,000 kg garbage pollutes
  glaciers, lakes and rivers
• Causes toxicity in residents using it

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Situation of Drinking Water in Pakistan

• Tourist points like Murree become heavily
  polluted contributed by tourists
• Naturally garbage produced finds its way into
  water channels that supply drinking water to
  downstream areas
• Survey conducted by NIH, Islamabad - upward trend
  in nitrate contents in drinking water of
  Islamabad and Rawalpindi
• Bacteriological examination shows 94 water
  samples unsuitable for human consumption
• Situation alarming because samples taken from
  posh F-11, G-7, G-9, G-11, and Airport areas in
  Islamabad
• If this quality of water in model and modern
  city, imagine situation in other cities

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Situation of Drinking Water in Pakistan

• SOME NEWSPAPER REPORTS
• Residents of some villages on banks of River
  Chenab near Chiniot reported to suffer from
  stomach diseases due to poor quality drinking
  water
• Reports appeared a few years back from Manga
  Mandi near Lahore
• residents suffered from bone deformations
• Unsafe drinking water reports from Sheikhupura,
  Lahore, Toba Tek Singh, Qsur, Hyderabad, Peshawar
  and other cities
• In Karachi, people sell dirty water after
  recycling
• Increased risk of kidney, stomach and skin
  diseases
• Seashores exposed to oil contamination because of
  ship breaking in Gadani and leakage from oil
  tankers

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Situation of Drinking Water in Pakistan

• Oil drained into water damages marine life and
  pollutes environment
• It finds its way into drinking water in Karachi
• residents develop diseases and allergies
• Practically no organized solid disposal system in
  any city in Pakistan
• Solid waste dumped in some open places and then
  burnt
• Gives rise to numerous chemicals including dioxin
  - highly toxic man-made organic chemical

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Bacterial Contamination in Water

• Campylobacter diarrhoea
• E. coli Bloody diarrhoea, mild fever, anaemia
• Pseudomonas dermatitis and infections in urinary
  tract, respiratory system, soft tissues, bones,
  joints, gastrointestinal tract
• Shigella gastroenteritis, bacillary dysentery
• Salmonella Nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps,
  diarrhoea, fever, headache
• Vibrio cholerae abdominal pains, mild fever,
  chills, and headache, watery diarrhoea followed
  by lethargy and dehydration.

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Viruses Contamination in Water

• Noroviruses - Group of viruses that cause
  gastroenteritis, inflammation of lining of
  stomach and intestines
• Hepatitis A Results in inflammation of liver
• Sources of infection
• an infected person who didnt wash his or her
  hands after using washroom
• drinking untreated water or
• eating food washed in untreated water
• Rotavirus Very common cause of severe diarrhoea
  among infants and children

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Take Home Message

• Drink ample quantity of GOOD QUALITY water
• Helps in digestion and avoid constipation
• Relieves fatigue
• Less cramps and sprains
• Good mood
• Natural remedy for headache
• Look younger with healthier skin
• Lose weight
• Better productivity at work
• Less likely to get sick and feel healthy
• Reduce risks of kidney failure

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