What Happens If You Drink Too Much Water
It’s not widely known, but there are potential ill effects that may arise from imbibing too much water. The following describes what happens if you drink too much water.
Water Intoxication and Hyponatremia
Consuming too much water leads to a condition known as water intoxication. This in turn causes the related condition known as hyponatremia. Hyponatremia occurs when sodium in the body gets diluted. Water intoxication occurs when a dehydrated individual drinks a lot of water minus the electrolytes.
Who Gets Affected by Water Intoxication?
The condition often affects babies below six months of age as well as athletes. A baby gets water intoxicated after consuming infant formula that is too diluted. Athletes sweat a lot and need to drink a lot of water. However, they also lose electrolytes along with their sweat. If they just drink water without electrolytes, water intoxication sets in.
What Happens to People When Water Intoxicated?
This is what happens if you drink too much water: the water goes into the cells and because there’s too much, the tissue swells up. The cells have an exact specification gradient. Too much water outside the cells will draw sodium from inside the cells.
The more excess water present, the more the serum sodium level drops. Hyponatremia then occurs. If the swelling is excessive, the cells could burst.
In simple terms, the cells drown and the electrolytes become imbalanced. The swelling tissues may cause irregular heartbeat. The condition may lead to water entering the lungs. Cases have shown that what happens if you drink too much water is the eyelids start to flutter uncontrollably as well.
Other Symptoms of Water Intoxication
The excess water puts great pressure on the nervous system and the brain. This affects the balance and the person may end up behaving as if drunk. In more severe cases, the swelling in the brain leads to seizures and even coma.
Treatment
The most basic treatment is to reduce the water intake of the individual. A hypertonic saline (salt) solution is given to the patient (the amount to be determined by the doctor). If treatment is administered prior to excessive tissue swelling, recovery is possible. Left untreated, water intoxication can lead to death.
How to Drink Water Properly
Aside from knowing what happens if you drink too much water, how to drink right is also necessary. What you have to do is drink lots of water spread over a period of time. A healthy adult can take 15 liters per day.
However, you shouldn’t drink water in one go; spread it over the day. 8 to 12 eight ounce glasses will be fine. Do increase the amount if the weather is dry or if you’re working out. You’ll also need to increase the amount if you’re on certain medications.
The electrolytes are the salt ions in the body. They are used by the cells as electricity to transport fluids to the cell membranes. What happens if you drink too much water is the imbalance, resulting in the health conditions cited earlier.
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