stupid question,how easy is it to die from water?

Marillian

It isn't how much water, it's how fast. If you drink water over the course of a day, the kidneys can process 15 L of water. I doubt you drink anything near that amount. You would probably stop when you felt full or bloated.

As for soda, there is nothing of nutritional value in soda, so why even drink it?

Yes, you can drink too much of any liquid.

ValerieMartini2Olives

Water intoxication is EXTREMELY unlikely. There have only been a handful of documented cases of water intoxication.

smantha32

I think water poisoning mainly happens to children? Wouldn't an adult have to drink an insane amount of water to die from it?

smantha32

Does it have alligators in it?

this. :bigsmile:

texastango

It's not a stupid question and drinking too much water can cause significant problems:

I've personally seen a half dozen people in 20+years get into trouble. One died. So it's not common, but here's briefly what happens.

The first case was a runner in the Houston Marathon. He replaced his fluid loss (sweat/salt/water) with pure water instead of water and electrolytes. He drank a lot of water during the run. At some point he convulsed (had a seizure). He later died from Central Pontine Demyelinolysis (stripping of the coating off part of the brainstem) from rapid electrolyte shifts.

The second case I recall was a gentleman at M.D. Anderson Hospital who had a prostate biopsy because he was told by an outside hospital that he had cancer - it turned out he didn't. At any rate the sugeon told him to drink plenty of fluid to flush himself out..so he went right to the cafeteria and drank glass after glass after glass of water. Till he had a convulsion.

In both cases it was the rapid intake of plain water - and in the first case loss of salt too - that led to the rapid changes and drop in Sodium (normally 140 mg/dl) but in both these individuals their sodiums dropped markedly - first case to 108 and in the second case to 118 mg/dl.

So it does happen, but it's rare.

To borrow from Wikipedia:
At the onset of this condition, fluid outside the cells has an excessively low amount of solutes (such as sodium (hyponatremia) and other electrolytes) in comparison to that inside the cells causing the fluid to shift through (via osmosis) into the cells to balance its concentration. This causes the cells to swell. In the brain, this swelling increases intracranial pressure (ICP). It is this increase in pressure which leads to the first observable symptoms of water intoxication: headache, personality changes, changes in behavior, confusion, irritability, and drowsiness. These are sometimes followed by difficulty breathing during exertion, muscle weakness, twitching, or cramping, nausea, vomiting, thirst, and a dulled ability to perceive and interpret sensory information. As the condition persists papillary and vital signs may result including bradycardia and widened pulse pressure. The cells in the brain may swell to the point where blood flow is interrupted resulting in cerebral edema. Swollen brain cells may also apply pressure to the brain stem causing central nervous system dysfunction. Both cerebral edema and interference with the central nervous system are dangerous and could result in seizures, brain damage, coma or death.[4]