Hyponatremia: Drowning From the InsideBy Nicole Stevenson [Health & Your Life]
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Who is most at risk for developing hyponatremia? Nicole Stevenson reveals the truth about drinking yourself to death.  Water is an absolute necessity and many of us simply don’t drink enough. But is there such a thing as too much water? Hyponatremia, sometimes called water intoxication, is an unusual condition in which a person’s sodium levels become dangerously low and therefore, their water levels become much too high. You may have heard of a young mother who partook in a radio contest that killed her. Contestants were made to drink 8 oz. bottles of water every 15 minutes without going to the bathroom. Later that day, the woman complained of headaches and died suddenly. Her rapid increase of water intake had caused her blood to become so diluted and her sodium levels to drop so severely, that her organs swelled with fluid, including her brain. In short, water intoxication, or hyponatremia, caused her to drown from the inside.Hypo-What? Hyponatremia can occur when your sodium level drops below the normal 136 to 145mM. A severe decrease in sodium, dropping below 125mM, can be potentially fatal. A sudden increase in water intake, particularly while on a low-sodium diet or after expelling a lot of sodium can cause swelling in the liver and kidneys, but more importantly in the brain. More common and relatively mild chronic hyponatremia occurs when sodium levels gradually decrease over time, which can be corrected and managed quite easily. However, acute hyponatremia, a very rapid decrease in sodium and/or increase in water, can be dangerous, leading to seizures, coma and even death. Symptoms The symptoms of hyponatremia are hard to distinguish as related to the condition, since they are symptoms of other common ailments, including its opposite, dehydration. Because sodium is important for brain functioning, brain-related symptoms including headaches, fatigue, loss of appetite, dizziness and disorientation are all signs of hyponatremia. Nausea, bloating or puffiness of the face and hands and muscle weakness also come with a sodium-water imbalance. In rare but severe cases, seizures and comas can result from the rapid swelling of the brain that acute hyponatremia may cause. If a saline solution is not administered soon enough, the swelling can eventually lead to death. |
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