Now that the weather is getting warmer we should all be aware of this condition. Water is good for us? In most cases the answer is YES. But, there is a great risk of drinking too much water when we are hot. Just thought we all should think about it and take precautions. Too much water can cause death. This condition is called Hyponatremia and it is more common than we may think.
Common symptoms of Hyponatremia include: Loss of appetite Nausea Vomiting Headache Restlessness Fatigue Irritability Abnormal mental status Possible coma Hallucinations Consciousness, decreased Confusion Convulsions Muscle weakness Muscle spasms or cramps This condition is caused by drinking lots of water that washes the sodium and minerals from the blood. This can be helped by drinking something like Gatorade that will be more satisfactory to your body's needs and cure your thirst balancing your electrolytes. Drinking Too Much Water - Jennifer Strange died from drinking too much water. The fact she drank it during a contest to win a Nintendo Wii video game system -- "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" -- made her death especially tragic...and newsworthy. How could you die from drinking water? Basic physiology and osmosis . The kidneys can only process so much water over a given time. If you drink more water than the kidneys can process, your blood dilutes. The diluted blood creates an imbalance (more salt in the surrounding cells than in the blood). To relieve that imbalance, water from the blood starts entering the salty cells. This causes the cells to swell. Some cells and organs handle the swelling better than others. Unfortunately, skull-encased brain isn't one of them. As the brain swells, pressure builds and key portions of the brain that control breathing and other vital function begin to shut down and you die. College Student Dies from Drinking too much Water A student at California State University at Chico has died of water poisoning (hyponatremia) from drinking too much water during a fraternity hazing ceremony. He is not the first student to die from "bingeing" on water as some fraternities have begun replacing beer with water in their hazing rituals because of university pressures. Excessive water in the body causes salt levels in the blood to drop which interferes with brain, heart and muscle functioning, leading to death. Marathon victim died from drinking too MUCH water 24.04.07 David Rogers marathon man died after too much water David Rogers, 22, who died after drinking too much water during the London Marathon A 22-year-old man died after completing his first London Marathon because he drank too much water. David Rogers collapsed at the end of the race and died yesterday in Charing Cross Hospital. Today it emerged the fitness instructor from Milton Keynes died from hyponatraemia, or water intoxication. In 2003 St Thomas' Hospital treated 14 runners for the condition. Mr. Rogers, who finished the race in 3hr 30mins, was the ninth runner to die since the first London Marathon in 1981. One medical expert said: "Ironically, hyponatraemia is more dangerous than dehydration." When too much water can kill you by Valerie Coulman WE ALL KNOW THAT WATER IS THE STUFF OF LIFE. IN THE middle of a Rogue Valley summer, we are all too aware of the importance of it. But as with so many things, it is becoming more and more evident that too much can be just as dangerous as not having enough. In a startling headline some months ago, a radio contest turned deadly when a woman left the contest after drinking water over a very short period of time. Only hours later, she was found dead in her home. The cause of death was hyponatremia, sometimes referred to as water intoxication. Drinking too much water has an effect on the delicate electrolyte balance of the blood stream, particularly sodium levels. When sodium concentration levels get too low, the body's organs, particularly the brain, start to swell and cannot function properly. "Obviously, it can be very serious," says Dr. Dean Raniele of Renal Care Consultants in Medford. "Forcing of water in a short period of time can be dangerous." When the kidneys in particular are "overloaded" because of either impaired function or excessive water intake, the resultant imbalance can have serious consequences. While headlines link hyponatremia most often to extreme situations like hazings, contests or marathons, it is actually most common in the elderly. "As you grow older, your body changes the way it handles sodium," says Dr. Noriecel Mendoza of Rogue Endocrinology & Metabolic Clinic in Medford. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
