Every cell in the trunk needs water to office correctly. Nevertheless, drinking too much tin can pb to water intoxication and serious wellness consequences.

Information technology is difficult to drink also much h2o by blow, but information technology can happen, usually every bit a result of overhydrating during sporting events or intense training.

The symptoms of water intoxication are general — they can include confusion, disorientation, nausea, and vomiting.

In rare cases, water intoxication can crusade swelling in the brain and get fatal.

This article describes the symptoms, causes, and effects of water intoxication. It also looks into how much h2o a person should beverage each twenty-four hours.

a man drinking water out of a bottle where he might drink too much Share on Pinterest
A person may experience h2o intoxication if they beverage also much water.

Also known as water poisoning, h2o intoxication is a disruption of brain office caused by drinking likewise much water.

Doing so increases the corporeality of water in the blood. This tin can dilute the electrolytes, especially sodium, in the claret.

If sodium levels autumn below 135 millimoles per liter (mmol/50), doctors refer to the issue as hyponatremia.

Sodium helps maintain the balance of fluids inside and exterior of cells. When sodium levels drop due to excessive h2o consumption, fluids travel from the outside to the inside of cells, causing them to bang-up.

When this happens to brain cells, it can exist unsafe and even life threatening.

Bottom line: H2o intoxication results from drinking too much h2o. The excess water dilutes sodium in the claret and causes fluids to motion inside cells, causing them to swell.

When a person consumes an excessive amount of water and cells in their brain outset to swell, the force per unit area within their skull increases. This causes the first symptoms of water intoxication, which include:

  • headaches
  • nausea
  • vomiting

Severe cases of h2o intoxication can produce more than serious symptoms, such as:

  • drowsiness
  • muscle weakness or cramping
  • increased blood force per unit area
  • double vision
  • confusion
  • inability to identify sensory information
  • difficulty breathing

A buildup of fluid in the brain is chosen cerebral edema. This can affect the brain stalk and cause fundamental nervous system dysfunction.

In astringent cases, water intoxication can cause seizures, brain damage, a coma, and even death.

Bottom line: Drinking also much h2o tin increase the pressure inside the skull. This can crusade various symptoms and, in severe cases, become fatal.

Water intoxication is rare, and it is very difficult to consume also much water by accident. However, information technology can happen — there have been numerous medical reports of death due to excessive water intake.

Water intoxication almost commonly affects people participating in sporting events or endurance training, or people who take various mental health conditions.

Sporting events

H2o intoxication is particularly common amongst endurance athletes. It tin can happen if a person drinks a lot of water without correctly bookkeeping for electrolyte losses.

For this reason, hyponatremia ofttimes occurs during major sporting events.

As the authors of one written report report, out of 488 participants in the 2002 Boston Marathon, 13% had hyponatremia symptoms, and 0.06% had disquisitional hyponatremia, with sodium levels of less than 120 mmol/l.

Instances of water intoxication at these events take resulted in decease. One case involved a runner who had collapsed after a marathon.

Because he was improperly rehydrated, his sodium levels fell beneath 130 mmol/l. The runner then developed water on the encephalon, known as hydrocephalus, and a hernia in his brain stem, which caused his death.

Military grooming

One medical report described 17 soldiers who developed hyponatremia afterwards drinking too much water during grooming. Their blood sodium levels were 115–130 mmol/l, while the normal range is 135–145 mmol/l.

According to some other study, iii soldiers died due to hyponatremia and cognitive edema. These deaths were associated with drinking more than than 5 liters of water in merely a few hours.

The symptoms of hyponatremia tin can be misinterpreted equally those of dehydration. Co-ordinate to 1 report, a soldier who received an incorrect diagnosis of dehydration and rut stroke died from water intoxication equally a consequence of rehydration efforts.

Mental health conditions

Compulsive water drinking, also called psychogenic polydipsia, can exist a symptom of various mental health conditions.

Information technology is most common amongst people with schizophrenia, merely it tin can also arise in people with melancholia disorders, psychosis, and personality disorders.

Bottom line: H2o intoxication can be life threatening, and it is most mutual amongst soldiers in grooming, endurance athletes, and people with schizophrenia.

It is difficult to consume also much h2o by accident. However, it tin happen, and there take been numerous reports of decease due to excess water intake.

People at risk of death from water intoxication tend to be participating in endurance sporting events or military grooming. A person who is doing neither is unlikely to die from drinking too much water.

Overhydration and water intoxication happen when a person drinks more water than their kidneys tin get rid of via urine.

The amount of water is not the but factor — fourth dimension also plays a part.

Co-ordinate to figures quoted in a 2013 study, the kidneys tin can eliminate nearly 20–28 liters of water a day, just they can remove no more than than 0.8 to 1.0 liters every 60 minutes.

To avoid hyponatremia, it is important not to outpace the kidneys by drinking more water than they can eliminate.

The authors of the report written report that hyponatremia symptoms can develop if a person drinks iii–four liters of water in a short period, though they exercise not requite a specific time estimate.

According to one example report, soldiers developed symptoms after consuming at least 2 quarts (1.9 liters) of water per hour.

Another report describes the development of hyponatremia after drinking more than than 5 liters in a few hours.

Water intoxication and prolonged hyponatremia also occurred in an otherwise salubrious 22-twelvemonth-former prisoner who drank 6 liters of water in 3 hours.

Finally, according to ane report, a 9-twelvemonth-sometime girl developed water intoxication after consuming three.6 liters of water in ane–2 hours.

Bottom line: The kidneys can remove 20–28 liters of h2o per solar day, but they cannot excrete more than than 0.8 to 1.0 liters per hour. Drinking more than this can be harmful.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are no official guidelines about how much water a person needs to drink each day.

The right amount differs, depending on factors such as body weight, level of physical activity, the climate, and whether they are breastfeeding.

In 2004, The National Academy of Medicine recommended that women aged nineteen–30 consume around 2.7 liters per mean solar day and men of the aforementioned age around 3.vii liters per solar day.

Some people still follow the 8×8 rule, which recommends drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of h2o per mean solar day. However, this was not based on research.

Relying on thirst may non work for everyone. Athletes, older adults, and pregnant women, for example, may need to beverage more water each day.

To estimate the right amount, it tin can help to consider calories. If a person needs 2,000 calories per solar day, they should also consume two,000 milliliters of water per day.

Read more than about daily water intake recommendations hither.

Drinking likewise much water tin lead to water intoxication. This is rare and tends to develop among endurance athletes and soldiers.

There are no official guidelines about how much water to drink. To avert water intoxication, some sources recommend drinking no more than than 0.viii to 1.0 liters of water per hour.