Who would have known that what keeps us alive can also be the death of us. Water intoxication happens when too much water has been consumed in a short period of time. When someone experiences water intoxication that person’s nutrients will be diluted with water to such an extent that those nutrients are rendered no longer functional.
The nutrients that are generally lost in water intoxication are electrolytes. Athletes are at a higher risk of water intoxication, because of all the electrolytes they lose in their sweat (which is why drinks like Gatorade are so popular when pertaining to sports).
Looking microscopically, too much water causes your tissue cells to swell, and thus precious sodium is drawn out from the cell in a process called hyponatremia. Too much of a loss in sodium will result in cell death. In an effect to retain salt the cell can retain more water, but this may cause the cell to burst.
So make sure you don't drink your eight glasses of water a day to fast because water intoxication can be fatal if not treated early.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/water-intoxication.htm
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blwaterintox.htm
2 comments:
"Hold Your Wee for a Wii"
Jannifer Strange, a woman from California died from water intoxication during a contest hosted by a local radio station. She signed a waiver before the contest, although the waiver did not properly inform the participants of the risks involved in drinking copious amounts of water. A nurse attempted to inform the radio hosts of the risks, but she was mocked and basically ignored.
All this death for a video game system. Sad. Here is a video of an MSNBC report about the woman's death.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/16636815#16636815
I have experienced water intoxication before, and I really had a hard time. I would certainly not want to undergo such an experience ever again. Learn more about water intoxication here: http://hikingmastery.com/basics/water-intoxication.html
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