Water Overdose

Everyone knows that drinking water is essential for the body to function normally, because after all, most of our body is made of water. However, drinking excess of water can be harmful for the body. Water overdose, also known as water poisoning or water intoxication, is a very grave condition, as it poses a potential fatal threat to the brain. This is because it can lead to a change in the electrolyte balance in the body, which can impair functioning of the brain. This takes place when a person is found to be drinking too much water. This is commonly seen in marathon runners and athletes and people that take part in water drinking contests. It is also seen in over enthusiastic dieters who tend to drink excess of water while working out. Given below are the effects of water overdose and ways to avoid this condition.

Water Overdose Pathophysiology and Symptoms
When a person initially starts to drink a lot of water, the amount of fluid outside the cells has a very low amount of solutes, like sodium and other electrolytes in comparison to that present inside the cells. Due to this difference in the concentration, the fluid shifts through osmosis into the cells, so as to balance the concentration. This leads to swelling of cells. When this happens in the brain, it leads to an increase in the intracranial pressure, which is a serious condition that can lead to water intoxication symptoms. These symptoms include:

• Headache, changes in behavior of a person and personality changes, mental confusion and irritability. The person may also feel drowsy.
• When the symptoms extends beyond the mental symptoms, then the person may also have difficulty breathing, weakness in muscles along with twitching and cramping.
• Nausea and vomiting may also be seen.
• If the condition becomes severe enough to affect the vital centers in the brain, then it could lead to disruption of vital regulatory activities that are carried out by the brain. This could lead to bradycardia (decreased heart rate) and a widened pulse pressure. If the edema is severe enough to press on the brain stem, then there could be seizures, irreversible brain damage, coma and if not dealt with, eventual death.

Treatment and Prevention
If one senses that a person may be showing signs and symptoms of water intoxication, then initially, if the intoxication is mild, then even fluid restriction can help to considerably reverse the symptoms. However, in severe cases, diuretics can help to get rid of the excess fluid in the body. This is especially helpful in cases where the person has an increase in the blood volume. One can also make use of vasopressin antagonists.

To prevent such problems of water overdose, one should ideally stick to the recommended daily water intake. One factor that is infamous for leading to cases of people dying from water overdose is water drinking contests and crash diets where people tend to go on a liquid diet and exercise feverishly. Crash diets are especially the main culprit for causing water intoxication in young adults and teenage girls. This not only messes the entire functioning of the body, leading to an unnecessary stress on the body, but also greatly overloads the kidneys, which do not manage to filter out enough of water from the body. It is a common misconception that by restricting the diet to a purely liquid diet will lead to weight loss. However, on the contrary, water overdose can lead to water retention and weight gain if it is not supplemented with the required electrolytes. Thus, the best way to ensure that such insanely self induced harm is not done to the body, it is best to keep the amount of water consumed under check. Drink only as much required so as to make sure that you meet the recommended water intake per day without causing any harm to the body.