The Risk of Drinking Too Much Water- Seattle Chiropractor's Report
Seattle Chiropractor's Report
Typically this time of year, we are reading articles on dehydration (lack of water). For good reason! More often then not, drinking too little water can become a major problem for people who are active in summer weather.
What about drinking too much water? Is there such a thing? The answer is a startling “yes”, it’s called hyponatremia. Although extremely rare, endurance athletes tend to have the highest risk of experiencing this condition. For example, in 2002, a healthy 28-year-old female collapsed during the Boston Marathon as a result of hyponatremia. She didn’t make it, which prompted not only the running community but also the scientist to start asking questions.
Symptoms: Nausea, cramps, dizziness and headaches. It is difficult to distinguish between dehydration and hyponatremia symptoms. The difference in symptoms is that people experiencing hyponatremia have normal vital signs in the initial states. They are also more likely to vomit and become puffy.
Treatment: IV with a concentrated sodium solution, a diuretic medication to speed water loss and an anti-convulsive medication, in case of seizure, according to Dr. John Cianca, medical director for the Houston Marathon. It is important that hyponatremia is diagnosed correctly and not mistaken for dehydration as the treatment for these two conditions are opposite of each other.
Dr. Arthur Siegel, director of internal medicine at McLean Hospital, studied 2 women who died during marathons from hyponatremia. He found that they both died of brain swelling from the water intoxication. He determined that they died not from “drinking too much water, but because their kidneys stopped excreting water as a response to skeletal muscle injury. When runners “hit the wall” they force their muscles to continue to exercise even after they’ve run out of glycogen, or fuel. This triggers a stress hormone in the brain to tell the kidneys to halt water excretion, in an effort to maximize blood volume. When this happens, even a relatively small amount of fluid can cause the brain to swell. If a person continues to consume fluids, the body reacts to the inflammation by continue to protect blood volume making the brain swell even more.” Dr. Siegel thinks that it’s the combination of over-drinking during and after the race, once the muscle injury has begun, that people start to get in trouble.
So how can you protect yourself? First, understand how you sweat. People who tend to be “salty sweaters” are at a higher risk for hyponatremia. If you are running or working out for more than 5 hours, weight yourself periodically. If you gain weight, stop drinking water. Just as a heads up, women tend to be more at risk for this then men as they tend to lose more sodium and retain more fluid then men.
Although rare, it’s important to keep an eye on your water consumption, especially if you are an athlete.
Information Source: http://www.amaasportsmed.org/news_room/hyponatremia_reuters.htm
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.