Is it true that someone died because he drank too much water and flushed out all the essential minerals?

Answer 1

yes, i have heard that story before:

Yes. The condition that occurs is called water intoxication. It can cause another condition called hyponatremia,. It occurs when the amount of liquid you are ingesting dilutes the liquids in your body and your sodium levels drop to a dangerously low level.

"Drinking excess water in the absence of dietary sodium results in hyponatremia, an overdilution of sodium in the blood plasma, which in turn causes an osmotic shift of water from the blood plasma into brain cells. The brain cells swell as result of osmotic pressure, and will ultimately cease to function."

Answer 2

What you are referring to is WATER INTOXICATION. Water intoxication is also referred to as hyponatremia. This is where the salt level in your body is decreased to a dangerous level and the cells expand. I have given you a site below to review this. That is why they take water fountains out of psych units because often the patients keep drinking and drinking and the first signs as the cells in the brain swell is confusion and a drunken like state. Refer to the sites for Water Intoxication and yes you can die but you really have to drink lots and lots........way more than you do if you are outside on a hot day and dehydrated.

Answer 3

you dont flush out all your minerals but you can actually drown yourself with too much water. we hade a patient that used a drug which makes you thirsty and actually aspirated/ drowned in the fluid internally. i am not sure whether your story is true but i do know the more fluids you drink the more your body is going to try to regulate your acid balance in your body and you will urinate more frequently. the only possible thing that makes sense is that this person drank too much fell asleep on his/her back and actually aspirated/ breathed the fluid into the lungs and died.

Answer 4

Often called "water intoxication" or "hyponatremia" (low salt)1, water poisoning results when too much water is ingested in too short a time without replenishing electrolytes, particularly sodium and potassium.

The human body (as with other animals) maintains an equilibrium of electrolytes in the bloodstream as part of its normal operation. Sweating causes the body to lose salt, but the primary cause of hyponatremia is drinking enormous amounts of water, which dilutes the salt in the body to a dangerous level. As the electrolyte levels get dangerously out of balance, body systems begin to fail and the sufferer exhibits signs of crisis such as diarrhea, over-salivation, stupor, vomiting, muscle tremors, confusion, frequent urination and other general symptoms of illness, and their brain begins to swell. This swelling is called a 'brain edema' or 'cerebral edema' and can lead to brain damage, paralysis, and sometimes death.

Water poisoning deaths are a real (although small) problem with recreational MDMA use; for more information about this see the MDMA Health & Water Issues page. There are occasional deaths in the US and Canada from people accidentally drinking too much water, and some from intentional or forced overconsumption, such as the case of a young man required to drink two or more gallons of water as part of a college fraternity hazing ritual.

How susceptible one is to the dangers of hyponatremia seems to be partially dependent on body weight, how much food is in the system, and other factors not yet understood which make up individual variation in response. The body has a system for regulating electrolyte balance and it eliminates excess fluids through urination. Some people's urine regulation systems (partially controlled by Anti-Diuretic Hormone [ADH], also called vasopressin) do not respond as quickly in some circumstances.

Health professionals recommend taking electrolytes dissolved in liquid or eating salty snacks when drinking large amounts of water to make sure that a proper balance is being maintained. For instance, sometimes when people are trying to avoid an alcohol hangover, they may drink (or have their friends force them to drink) more water than they would normally drink. In such cases, salty crackers, chips, or some other kind of salt source can help the body absorb the water and eliminate it properly without risking further throwing the electrolytes out of balance.

Answer 5

Many people have. Not because of flushing out of minerals alone. Many athletes drink water before they cool off. This can cause shock especially if it is cold and you gulp it down instead of sipping it.

Answer 6

No We are Primarily water. There is No way to Drink that much Water. Most Mineral are Oil Soluble and Not Water Solubles Anyway.

Answer 7

If someone who suffers from dehydration (as in being long in the desert or something), YES, drinking lots of water can cause heart failure, as his normal blood circulation will not be able to stop the sudden hypo-tension due to too much water.

Answer 8

Very True

Answer 9

Yes -- it possible. I drank too much water once while I was ill and washed away my electrolytes -- had to get iv.

Answer 10

It can happen. Leah Betts died becasue she drank too much water.