What is the disadvantage of consuming too much water?

Answer 1

A normal adult needs to drink around 2 litres of water a day. This is around 4 pints or 8 glasses of water. People who do lots of exercise or who live in hot climates would need to drink more water than this as they will sweat more! It's best to spread the consumption of water out throughout that day rather than drinking it all at once.

However the consumption of too much water can cause a condition known as water intoxication and in severe cases can be fatal.A It is caused by a dilution of electrolytes (sodium in this case) in the body.B

Symptoms include confusion and headaches,C light headedness, nausea and vomiting.D If water continues to be absorbed by the body, the symptoms can worsen, leading to seizures, coma and ultimately death.D

Treatment is straight forward, however diagnosis can be more problematic as the patients confused state may give the impression that they have taken drugs.C

Groups at risk include infants under 1 year, endurance athletes and people with kidney problems (as well as a number of others).D

So as stated earlier if you are drinking lots of water try to spread the consumption out through the day and if you have been exercising, and think you may be dehydrated consider drinking a rehydration drink that will replenish lost electrolytes as well as water (examples include Gatorade, Powerade or Lucozade etc)!

Water intoxication is extremely rare (unless your an endurance athlete such as a marathon runner when you might be more at risk). If however you or someone you know is experiencing the symptoms described above it is important to seek medical attention!

Please see related links.

A Farrell, D. J. and Bower, L. (2003) Fatal water intoxication, Journal of Clinical Pathology, Vol. 56, No. 10, pp. 803-804.

B Can You Drink Too Much Water? From about.com.

C Why is too much water dangerous? BBC News.

D Water intoxication. Wikidoc entry.

Answer 2

Overloading the human body with water has primarily been addressed in clinical settings. If an individual is receiving Intravenous (IV) fluid at a rate higher than can be excreted, there can be serious health consequences. Hyponatremia (low sodium) is one of the most common health effects from fluid overload. This condition can lead to seizures, coma, and death.

It is harder, but still possible, to push the human body into fluid overload by drinking large amounts of water. Millions of years of evolution has produced biological mechanisms for preventing both dehydration (thirst, dry mouth) and fluid overload (thirst satiation, physical discomfort, vomiting).

There are metabolic conditions and certain types of brain damage which may cause an individual to drink so much water that they become hyponatraemic. Healthy individuals, simply choosing to overload themselves with water, are at the same risk for lowering their sodium to dangerous levels. Refer to the article below entitled Fatal water intoxication for more detailed information.

Answer 3

yes. ppl have died from this, it causes electrolyte imbalance.