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Is it true that drinking too much water can be toxic?In: Health [Recategorize] |
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A step-by-step "how-to" instruction.
Most of these answers apply to people in generally good health. However, water is strictly restricted in people with Congestive Heart failure, Kidney Failure and serious electrolyte imbalances -- it can cause death quickly.
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Yes, but the body normally signals that it does not need water long before a toxic point. Generally, most deaths have resulted when people have been pushed to consume as much water as possible, making them avoid these warning signs given by the body (for example, a contest that challenged contestants to drink as much water as possible without urinating in order to win a Wii resulted in one participant's death). So drinking too much water can be toxic, but it's very unlikely that a normal person would happen to consume too much water by accident.
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Yes, it's called hyponatremia.
A marathon runner in Boston died of hyponatremia a year or two back. It is very rare, and dehydration is still much more of a concern.
See more information here: http://www.answers.com/topic/hyponatremia.
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Yes it is. Drinking water too much before your kidneys can filter them can cause the water to back up and actually dilute your blood. This is known as water intoxication. It can easily put a person into a coma, and in more serious cases, cause death. More common, however, is you drink a lot of water and while you may not feel like you have to go to the washroom, in the middle of the night it could hit you like a ton of bricks leading to a wet bed because it happens so quickly that your body doesn't have time to react to it.
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Drinking too much water can deplete your body of needed sodium and potassium. This is most likely when a lot of water is comsumed at one time as opposed to drinking little quantities throughout the day. Drinking water will not hurt you if you still maintain a healthy diet, drink water consistantly, and keep you water cunsumption to something reasonable - say under two gallons a day. There's nothing wrong with sports drinks to keep your electrolytes at healthy levels.
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Drinking too much water and developing a lethal toxicity is more common than imagined. It is the cause of death associated with the use of the recreational drug ecstasy that is commonly used at raves.
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Every cell in your body needs to be balanced. Water and sodium are very important.In simple terms, When the balance is tipped i.e drinking far far too much water it causes the cell to swell and eventually burst. If this carries on through out the body and masses of cells swell and burst it can cause extreme adverse effects and even death.
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Athletes are usualy much more concerned with preventing dehydration than with drinking too much water. However, consuming large quantities of liquids in a short amount of time to compensate for not drinking enough can be just as damaging and dangerous. Being aware of the hydration needs of your body is crucial and, as with anything, consistency is key. Staying properly hydrated means drinking water or sports drinks consistenty and reguary throughout every day, being aware that not feeling thirsty does not mean you are properly hydrated, and avoiding excesses over short periods of time.
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If you are losing bodily fluids whether through sweating, vomiting, and/or diarrhea these fluids must be replaced. They contain socium, chloride, and potassium in additon to water. When these fluids are replaced with water only it can have serious health consequences as noted above. Sports drinks have some of these "electrolytes" in them, but if your child is having vomiting and diarrhea they may need PediaLyte to replace fluids properly. If the dehydration is severe, you may require intravenous fliuds to rehydrate you.
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Usually in adults over hydration will not cause a problem unless kidney,heart and hypothalamus are not functioning properly.water intoxication occurs only if he drinks more than 8 litres.Mostly small children are at higher risk as their excretory systems are not as well developed as adults.
First answer by ID0000000000. Last edit by VIVEKg1. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 316 [recommend question]
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