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Drinking Too Much Water Can Actually Be Dangerous

Water intoxication isn’t as well-known as dehydration. That can make it difficult to pinpoint the cause of symptoms, which can be similar to those associated with heat exhaustion or heat stroke, said Rayven Nairn, senior dietitian for student health and well-being at Johns Hopkins University. When someone drinks too much water over a short period, it can lead to the dilution of sodium in the blood, known as hyponatremia or water intoxication. The condition can grow particularly dangerous when it leads to the swelling of brain cells. The expansion puts pressure on certain parts of the brain and can lead to coma, seizures or death, scientists say. Brooke Shields told Glamour last year she suffered…

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 Drinking too much water, also known as water intoxication, can be deadly. Do I need to worry?

While staying hydrated is an important part of health — and survival — it's actually possible to overdo it. Water poisoning, also known as water intoxication, is a real thing, and it can be deadly. Awareness of water poisoning has increased recently, thanks to a series events that have also called into question just how much water people should be drinking daily. Here's what's been going on, as well as how concerned you should be about water intoxication.

 Water intoxication: are we drowning in advice to drink more fluids?

Healthcare practitioners often encourage patients to “drink plenty of fluids” when they are unwell. Even the well are encouraged to drink lots of water to stay hydrated and keep healthy. Yet the rationale and evidence for these recommendations are equivocal. Timothy Noakes has spoken about the dangers of over-drinking in endurance athletes for some time, where the recommendation has been to drink as much as tolerable, and to drink before thirst.

 Yes, You Can Drink Too Much Water

When you think about “having too much to drink,” chances are you’re not thinking about overdoing it on water. We hear so much about drinking enough water these days that it might seem like there’s no such thing as overhydrating. It’s true, of course, that hydration is a top priority for well-being, but there’s a lesser-known flip side to this health advice. Consuming too much water in too short a time can actually be dangerous—or even deadly.

Articles of Interest

Ask Well: Can You Drink Too Much Water?

Absolutely, and if you do, you can develop a dangerous condition called hyponatremia, or water intoxication... Until about 20 years ago, hyponatremia was extremely uncommon among healthy people. But then several marathon runners died from hyponatremia. In general, they had been middle- or back-of-the-pack, slower runners. They did not sweat much. But they drank plenty of water, trying to ensure that they would be well hydrated. Today, most knowledgeable coaches and exercise experts warn athletes not to overdrink. “You should drink only when you need to, when you are actually thirsty,” said Dr. James Winger, a professor of family medicine at Loyola University Medical Center, who has studied the hydration habits of athletes.

Can You Actually Die From Drinking Too Much Water? We Asked Experts.

That said, research does show how “water intoxication” that occurs from having too much water in too short a period of time can be fatal. Now, this rarely happens accidentally. From real-life examples, we’ve seen how this has happened in water drinking contests, where the winner was the person who drank the most and waited the most to go to the toilet, or from heavy exercise in which huge amounts of fluids were consumed. This kind of over-hydration upsets the balance of electrolytes, not giving our kidneys enough time to process.

Can You Die From Drinking Too Much Soda?

Drinking water is good for us, but drinking too much water — or, in this case, soda — too quickly can be deadly. Our kidneys are supposed to keep our bodies balanced by controlling how much water and salt leaves the body. But if a person drinks more water than the body can handle, the kidneys can’t keep up. The excess water starts to enter the cells, and that’s when things get dangerous.

Drinking too much water when ill can be harmful, finds study

Doctors warn excessive intake can pose risks for some patients and say medical advice needs to be more specific.

Fatal water intoxication

Water intoxication can occur in a variety of different clinical settings but is generally not well recognised in the medical literature. The condition may go unrecognised in the early stages when the patient may have symptoms of confusion, disorientation, nausea, and vomiting, but also changes in mental state and psychotic symptoms. Early detection is crucial to prevent severe hyponatraemia, which can lead to seizures, coma, and death.

Too much of a good thing? How drinking too much water can kill

Drinking enough water is very important during long periods of physical activity or recreational pursuits. But there are rare instances when too much fluid intake can be harmful, and even lead to death.

Water Intoxication Affects More Than Runners And Triathletes

Among the authorities who have shown that excess water intake can contribute to serious health problems is world-renowned endurance expert, researcher, and author, Professor Timothy Noakes, M.D., of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.

Water Intoxication and Overhydration: All You Need to Know

Sometimes, the body can self-correct hyponatremia due to water intoxication by adjusting sodium and urine output. However, even mild cases of water intoxication or cases without symptoms may require treatment.

Water intoxication: Did you know that overhydration can be deadly?

Water, it would seem, solves all that ails from wrinkles to wellness and everything in-between. And yes, we are creatures made up of up to 60 percent water and getting enough is essential for survival. But as it turns out, even with water, too much of a good thing can be too much.

Water Intoxication: How Much Water Is Too Much?

There’s no doubt about it, drinking enough water to stay hydrated is important for many reasons — such as preventing fatigue, regulating blood pressure and even controlling hunger. But can you have too much water? The answer is yes, you definitely can. In fact, water intoxication (a severe form of hyponatremia) is considered to be a life-threatening emergency that must be diagnosed and treated promptly to prevent serious complications. Below we’ll look at the dangers associated with drinking too much water, plus how much water should actually be consumed daily for optimal hydration.

Water Intoxication: Just How Much H2O Does It Take To Kill A Person?

How much water does it take to kill a person? To be honest, not all that much. Paracelsus, the 16th century scientist known largely for establishing the role of chemistry in medicine came up with the concept that everything can be poisonous, or not, depending on the dose. Although modern chemistry has since gravitated away from this belief, the saying still stands true in regards to the earth’s most essential element: water.

Resources

CORE EM: Severe Hyponatremia

Severe hyponatremia is characterized by CNS dysfunction (focal neurologic deficit, seizures or coma) not by the serum sodium level. Treat neurologic emergencies with 3% hypertonic saline. 100-150 ml of 3% hypertonic saline will raise the serum sodium by 1-3 mEq/L which typically will resolve neurologic emergencies. Do not correct sodium by more than 6-8 mEq per day in order to avoid overcorrection and ODS.

Physiopedia

Fluid excess can occur in two main ways in the body, water intoxication and edema. Water Intoxication - The result of an excess of extracellular water without having an excess of solutes. Due to this imbalance, the extracellular fluid (ECF) becomes diluted causing water to move into cells to equalize solute concentration on each side of the cell. Hyponatremia, a potentially lethal situation, may occur if high volumes of water are consumed without solute replacement. Edema - The excess of both solutes and water, which is also termed isotonic volume excess. The additional fluid is retained in the extracellular compartment resulting in fluid accumulation in the interstitial spaces.

StatPearls

Water toxicity can occur due to numerous etiologies but it is challenging to diagnose as it presents with vague symptoms of altered mental status, disorientation, confusion, nausea, and vomiting which may resemble psychosis. It may be misdiagnosed on presentation, due to the variability of symptoms.