Subject: death from too much water

From: [email-masked] (Moogle)
Date: 29 Jun 1996 16:41:21 GMT

I'm part of a youth oriented safety organisation which deals with 
safety issues in regards to raves. I've seen a few times that its possible to 
die from drinking a huge amount of water and was wondering if someone could 
tell me exactly what happens to someone when they do this? thanks.

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From: [email-masked](Anthony D Gunter)
Date: 29 Jun 1996 18:54:54 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Moogle)
writes: 
>safety issues in regards to raves. I've seen a few times that its
>possible to die from drinking a huge amount of water and was 
>wondering if someone could tell me exactly what happens to someone
>when they do this? thanks.

To answer in lay terminology, they explode.

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From: [email-masked] (Douglas Fitts)
Date: 30 Jun 1996 14:21:14 GMT

Well, to answer in a bit less brief lay terminology, their cells explode.

All cells are bounded by a semipermeable membrane -- a skin that lets
water easily pass in and out.  However, the flow of other substances is
usually tightly regulated.  Sodium, for instance, hardly gets into cells
at all, and potassium gets in by the ton.  Water moves in and out of the
cells depending on the relative concentrations of all of the particles
inside and outside the cell.  An equilibrium is reached, so that the
osmotic concentrations are equal inside and outside the cell (that is, add 
up all the particles on one side, then divide by the amount of water on 
that side).

Drinking pure water is the same as adding pure water to the extracellular 
fluid (gut/blood).  This dilutes the extracellular fluid and destroys the 
equilibrium inside/outside.  Since water moves freely, but the particles 
don't, some of the water moves into the cells to reestablish the 
equilibrium.  This makes the cells swell up.

About two-thirds of the body water is inside cells, so about two-thirds of
what you drink in the absence of need gets absorbed by cells this way when
you drink.  Ordinarily, you don't drink enough to do any damage to the
cells, and the kidneys promptly excrete any excess, so the old equilibrium
is reestablished with the normal old cell size.  If the rate of drinking
greatly exceeds the ability of the kidneys to excrete the excess, though,
continued swelling and eventual cell breakage could occur.

The first cells to experience this would probably be the cells in the 
blood, such as red blood cells.  If they explode, your blood can't carry 
oxygen to the muscles and brain.  Boom.

Doug

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From: [email-masked] (Brian Devin)
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 17:35:17 GMT

>tell me exactly what happens to someone when they do this? thanks.

This is called water intoxication.  In someone with normal kidney
function, they would have to consume something in the area of 20-25L
(4-5 gal.) of water per day, to overload the kidneys' capacity to
clear water.

As water accumulates (note, this is plain water, not soda pop or
Gatorade, etc.), the relative concentrations of salts in the blood
(sodium and potassium primarily) fall.  This, in turn, causes changes
in brain chemistry.  

These changes show up initially as subtle changes in mental state,
confusion, and lethargy.  If the process continues, stupor,
convulsions, coma and death can follow.

Hope this helps.

Brian

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From: [email-masked] (Jack Campin)
Date: 30 Jun 1996 15:39:30 GMT

[email-masked] (Moogle) writes:
> possible to die from drinking a huge amount of water and was wondering
> if someone could tell me exactly what happens to someone when they do
> this?

Swelling of the brain, causing the same sort of effect as traumatic head
injury or the most severe forms of altitude sickness.  (Maybe congestion
of the lungs too? - not sure about this).  If the excess water isn't cleared
quickly enough, this leads to a progressive and fatal coma.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Campin                                             [email-masked]
T/L, 2 Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 4AE, Scotland       (+44) 131 556 5272 
---------------------  Save Scunthorpe from Censorship  ---------------------

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From: [email-masked] (Weston English)
Date: 1 Jul 96 11:23:07 -0700

Due to the effects of osmosis on the red blood cells when there is 
copious quantities of water in your blood stream the water will 
migrate into the red oxygen carrying blood cells to the point where 
they simple bust.

Since there are not carriers of Oxygen left in the body, even though 
you are still breathing, no oxygen is being carried to the neccessary 
tissues throughout the body nor are gasses such as carbon dioxide be 
exhaled from the body.

Therefore you suffocate!!!!

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From: Oz <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 11:11:48 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, Moogle
<[email-masked]> writes
>tell me exactly what happens to someone when they do this? thanks.

Actually it is a well documented fact that cattle die from excessive
water intake. In dry/hot years in the UK it is surprisingly common. The
water supply for a field fails, the cattle get very thirsty and break
out, find a stream and next day, thirty dead animals. I am sure it
happens elsewhere in the world too.

I have no idea what the physiological cause of death is but I suspect
that interference with blood mineral levels has something to do with it.

I believe that a similar effect has been documented with humans who (eg
desert travel, concentration camps etc) have been very thirsty for
extended periods and then glut on water.

------------------------------- 
'Oz     "When I knew little, all was certain. The more I learnt,
        the less sure I was. Is this the uncertainty principle?"