Fountain of life - water

　　Water is the fountains of human beings’ lives. According to scientific measurements, water account for two thirds of an adult’s weight and up to 80% of a child’s, respectively. As media of substance exchanges, water stored in a creature constitutes digestive juices mostly such as saliva (for mastication) and gastric juice, intestinal juice, pancreatic juice and bile (for digestion). Moreover, the toxic substances and wastes generated in metabolism, for example, feces, urine, perspiration and nasal mucus must be mixed with water and discharged.

On the other hand, a creature’s all physiological and biochemical processes in which water involves will be impeded in case of no water inside the living creature, for example, no nutrient absorbed, no waste discharged, no blood circulated, body temperature inconstant, etc. A creature’s life will be terminated with water inside the body depleted. Thus, water is the fountain of life.

 

Issues related to water

　　Water, which involves a human being’s physiological functions, relates to not only health but also the life. Currently, 70% of the global populations, 5 billion approximately, do not access safe clean water and 8 million people die of drinking unclean water desperately every year. Moreover, 25,000 people succumb to waterborne intestinal infectious diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, enteritis and cholera everyday because people drink water not boiled or unsafe and insanitary tap water directly.

　　There had been water supply systems significantly contaminated in 20% of cities, drinking water coming short of standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act in 63% of villages, and 37 million Americans drinking tap water containing bacteria and hazardous poisonous chemicals in 1988 according to the research report of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The report also disclosed that 2,090 chemicals were organic chemical pollutants or carbides and other were metal compounds mostly. The report provided more statistics as follows: 765 pollutants existing in tap water, 190 pollutants significantly detrimental to human bodies, 20 pollutants recognized as carcinogens, 23 pollutants classified into suspected carcinogens, 18 pollutants categorized as promoting carcinogens, and 56 pollutants being mutagens amid 2,110 pollutants. These pollutants were sources of tumors, for example, gastric cancers, bladder cancers, rectal cancers and colon cancers mostly. Thus, there were 15% of Americans and 33% of citizens in southern California drinking bottled water (distilled water and natural mineral water) in daily lives, respectively. The investigations for relationships between water quality and tumors made by American exports in the past two decades had attracted comprehensive attentions of the whole world.

　　As the disinfectant added into river water or lake water in which there were more organic matters for tap water treatment and sterilization, chlorine combines organic matters in water for generation of a large quantity of organo-chloride compounds such as trichloromethane and hydrogen chloride because of actions of liquid chlorine or bleaching powders according to findings of Japanese scientists in recent years. Because some organo-chlorides have been recognized as carcinogens in animal experiments, the so-called clean safe tap water has more carcinogenic risks than untreated water. In U.S., Canada, Japan and some European countries, the dosages of chlorine for water treatment have been reduced and new methods to sterilize drinking water are being researched.

　　In October 1988, the river water in the Thames was suspected to be contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS), which came from coal tar in old steel or cast-iron pipelines and were identical to carcinogens in exhausts discharged from automobiles. It can be seen from the introductions that drinking water is closely related to health of the human body. The traditional concept of “boiled water equivalent to safe, healthy and potable water” has been taken as a significantly obsolete and superficial notion because carcinogens, teratogens and mutagens critical to human health and safety still exist in treated and boiled tap water in which only bacteria are killed.

 

Importance of water for physiological functions of human beings

1. Water plays an important role in metabolism of the human body. Because of water’s strong dissolving and ionization capacities, the water-soluble substances in the human body can be dissolved and transformed to electrolyte ions. Moreover, the flowing water supports chemical reactions of metabolism in the human body, for example, to accelerate delivery of nutrients and discharge of wastes in digestion, absorption, circulation and excretion.

    

2. Water is the critical ingredient in cells and body fluids. For example, cells along with their basic elements in the body contain water and glands secrete fluids. If water in the body id depleted, a person will experience different discomforts, for example, dyspepsia and loss of appetite attributed to less secretion of digestive juices, slow blood flows, inactive metabolism, and toxins accumulated in the body, and even suffer from diseases.

    

3. Water regulates the body temperature. To increase or decrease 1°C of one gram of water, our body needs 1,000 calories because of water’s higher specific heat. Still, the body temperature is kept constant because heat generated in metabolism is absorbed by a great quantity of water stored in the body. Secondly, for the constant body temperature, the heat in our body is removed by a little water which has the higher evaporative capacity to evaporate 1ml water with 579.5 kilocalories at 37°C. The body heat conveyed by water is evaporated from skin and the body temperature is kept constant when the outside temperature is higher. Finally, water with excellent thermal conductivity is the best heat conductor among nonmetallic elements. Despite different metabolic intensities and production of unequal calorific capacities among all human tissues, water keeps a uniform temperature for tissues and organs in virtue of its good thermal conductivity.

    

4. Water keeps a certain blood volume in our body. When water in blood of the human body (80%) is depleted, the blood volume is decreased and hypotension occurs and influences all functions of organs, particularly heart, lung and kidney. Thus, water is closely related to the blood volume.

    

5. Water is the lubricant of joints, muscles and body cavities. The activities inside the human body, e.g., digestion, absorption, blood circulation, metabolism of wastes, joint motion and body temperature regulation, will be influenced if our body is short of water. Thus, for all organs and tissues, water exerts the function of buffering and protection.

    

6. Water is the magic weapon in medical treatments such as infusion, oxygen therapy and blood transfusion. The patients suffering from high fever, diarrhea and dehydration can be cured with 0.9% normal saline or glucose saline via intravenous infusion. To eliminate the disease attributed to invasion of the source of disease, leukocytes and antibodies will be activated. Furthermore, a patient should take medicines.

   To remove the source of disease and metabolize wastes and residual medicines, a patient has to drink a large quantity of water to generate a great deal of urine and perspiration by which the pathogens and metabolic wastes are discharged for metabolism of medicines and fewer toxic side effects of drugs on the human body. With multiple important characteristics for physiological functions of human beings, water is critical to the life. According to scientific measurements, a person survives without foods for 17 days but dies without water in 48 hours. To keep normal excretion in the human body, a person should regularly drink 2,000 ml water every day.

    

Data source: Water Science, Institute of Light Industrial Science and Technology Information