Water (H2O) is essential for life, and the water to ice ratio is a major component of global climate. Be smarter than me, and never go hiking in Palo Duro Canyon without bringing water! The average person in the U.S. does not drink as much water as they should and are actually mildly dehydrated much of the time. Support good kidney function and reduce stress, kidney stones and even (to some degree) hunger by drinking frequently! Millions of people in the world do not drink clean water. There are all kinds of non-living things that can be in water, including minerals, chemicals and poisons, that, in sufficient quantity, can make people sick. Further, the living things that can be in water, including bacteria and parasites, can be the source of epidemics and various diseases. The recent pipe break in Childress reminds us that we should be more thankful for the 360+ days when clean water is only a faucet away!
For those who are curious, the hydrogen in water generally has only one proton for the nucleus, but one in 5,000 hydrogens in the ocean are deuterium (hydrogen with one proton and one neutron). This isotope is stable, and “heavy water” with two of these (D2O) can be clean (and expensive) water. Chronic intake of D2O actually has the capacity to slow the hydrogen bonding in DNA synthesis, but it has no practical use for cancer therapy. Tritium (hydrogen with one proton and two neutrons) is found in trace amounts in the upper atmosphere and is radioactive with a half-life of 12.3 years.
Dr. Fred Hardwicke practices medical oncology at Childress Regional Medical Center (CRMC), 901 U.S. Hwy 83. To contact CRMC, call 940-937-6371.
