Drinking water improves the health of the elderly.

[Admin]

I heard this today on Radio 2. It seems Anglian (?) Water have done an 18 month study increasing the amount of water the elderly in care homes are consuming, and they've had some remarkable results.

Falls down, less GP call outs, people no longer requiring sleeping tablets, increased energy.....

There's short BBC clip here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7468554.stm

Naturally, there was nothing in the way of proper testing done (control group etc.) and this is simply 'open testing' (try it and see) and therefore prone to a whole load of potential biases that could lead to a false conclusion.

On the radio 2 phone-in they did at least have a doctor on there who explained the Hawthorne effect or the Spotlight Effect whereby people who are being tested for something will report improvements simply because attention is being paid to them (i.e. they're in the spotlight).

So it's effectively a completely worthless study that tells us precisely nothing about the effects of increased water intake! A complete waste of time and money!

A nurse did phone in, however, and explain that often elderly people do not drink enough as they are put off by the hassle of going to the toilet - so some of them do drink too little. This is already known though.

And just to prove that you don't need to drink any water at all, there was one email from a listener read out which said something like: my granny lived to be 102 and she never drank any water at all. She only had 2 cups of tea at breakfast, 2 cups of tea at lunch, and 2 cups of tea in the evening.

I was wondering how and why these useless studies ever get done - but I suppose it's had the desired effect. It's made the news and has been reported largely without criticism.

If there is a problem with the elderly suffering increased urinary infections etc. (and there does seem to be a problem) then highlight it by all means, but why dress it up in a meaningless study presented as science?

[bobdezon]

maybe the water had a memory of "being young"?

[Graham Lappin]

I don't know this study specifically but it may be the case that these people were dehydrated to start with. Given they were elderly, this is not that surprising I feel. It is therefore more a case of a low water intake causing lethargy than a higher water intake having any great power by itself. I think the nurse who called in might therefore have a point. An 18 month study does seem just a tad excessive to me. Also the problem with this type of reporting can be that some people think that the more they drink the better they will be. Even plain old water has a limit above which it can cause kidney damage.

[Mongrel]

And there are other ways of increasing fluid intake, the kitchen should play a role as well (speaking from experience). Fruit juices normally go down well, regular tea and biscuit, encouraging cereal for breakfast, meat in sauce or gravy for lunch\dinner. For desert stewed fruit, anything with custard and jelly pots are all bloody good and polished off quickly.
Remember fluid doesn't have to come in a cup

[wooo_oops]

I'll stick this one here. Apologies if it's bindun already.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7520756.stm

Detox diets are based on the theory that toxins from "unhealthy" food and drink build up in the body and can lead to health problems.
Purging those toxins - through restricted diets, lots of water or using particular supplements - is meant to leave people feeling better and, often, thinner. But critics disagree with the principle. Dr Andrew Wadge, of the Food Standards Agency, has branded detox regimes "nonsense" and said the body has its own system of getting rid of toxins - the liver.