News, Strange but True: Drinking Too Much Water Can Kill. (salt, stores)

[JD59]

In a hydration-obsessed culture, people can and do drink themselves to death.

Liquid H2O is the sine qua non of life. Making up about 66 percent of the human body, water runs through the blood, inhabits the cells, and lurks in the spaces between. At every moment water escapes the body through sweat, urination, defecation or exhaled breath, among other routes. Replacing these lost stores is essential but rehydration can be overdone. There is such a thing as a fatal water overdose.

Strange but True: Drinking Too Much Water Can Kill: Scientific American

[GreenMachine]

Yes, we know about this because there was a recent issue where a radio program sponsored a contest to see who could drink the most water without having to go to the bathroom. One woman died.

[Hyun-Soo]

If the water molecules get into the blood cells...Won't they burst?

Maybe the excess water is getting into the blood and causing people to suffocate

[lilypad]

There is an interesting disorder which causes people to drink too much water:

enwikipedia.org

[Milabs]

I thought this was common knowledge? You can kill yourself with an overdose of water..but..you have to drink a heck of alot of water in a short amount of time. Remember that lady that did a radio stunt and died from drinking too much water in a short time?

[lyma17]

Originally Posted by Milabs

You can kill yourself with an overdose of water..but..you have to drink a heck of alot of water in a short amount of time. Remember that lady that did a radio stunt and died from drinking too much water in a short time?

That's what I've always been told...not how much, but how fast you drink water. Too much water screws up your sodium levels and can cause all kinds of problems.

[kuan]

This used to happen at marathons where runners lose electrolytes like crazy. You can lose about a gram of salt per hour. Symptoms are similiar to dehydration, so paramedics used to give people even more water.

[missyM]

Thank you, John. It's a fascinating subject. I'm doing a paper with that as an element and did not find this article in several searches.

[sunflower53072]

My mil actually drank so much water her sodium levels got too low.

[SmerkyGrl]

Too much of anything will kill you. This is not news.