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Doctors often remind us that everything in excess is usually bad, and it looks like this also applies to consumption of water.
An unidentified woman from the UK has been hospitalized after her sodium levels dropped dangerously low due to over-hydration.
The 59-year-old was diagnosed with water poisoning, or hyperhydration, which causes a fatal disturbance in brain functions and imbalance of electrolytes in the body.
According to a Metro.co.uk report, the woman drank half pint of water every 30 minutes after she developed signs of a urinary track infection (UTI).
However, the elderly lady admitted to doctors that she might have consumed more than that, in an effort to “flush out her system.”
As a result, she spent over 24 hours in the hospital where doctors restricted her fluid intake to just 1 liter for her whole stay. At the height of her illness, she also vomited several times and exhibited significant speech difficulties.
Luckily, her sodium levels returned to the normal state and she was discharged the following day.
Sufficient fluid intake is vital to a person’s physical health, but drinking too much may cause the kidneys difficulty to flush it out as urine. If not flushed out, the excess water enters cells and may cause them to swell.
The effects of low sodium , meanwhile, may include nausea, vomiting and headaches, while extreme cases can lead to confusion, seizures, coma and even death.
The unusual case has prompted medical practitioners to further evaluate how much water can be considered as excessively dangerous. Recent findings by the American Chemistry Society said the amount varies based on a person’s weight, and it takes about 6 liters of water to kill a 165-pound person.
Maryann Noronha, a doctor from King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said that doctors must also be more specific when they give advice to patients regarding proper fluid intake.
“I say to people, while they are ill they should at least consume their normal fluid intake and up to half again [i.e., up to 150%],” she was quoted as saying in a Tech Times Report. “If you drink three liters, you shouldn’t drink six liters when you are ill.” Khristian Ibarrola