Water intoxication: Beware of the seemingly harmless but potentially harmful substance.

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The two substances that come up in mind when the word “intoxication” is mentioned are alcohol and drugs.  Many of us are aware that these substances are intoxicants and abuse of them can destroy our life.  Do we know that water is an intoxicant like alcohol and drugs?

Water is an intoxicant and considered to be more powerful intoxicant than alcohol and drugs.  A person can get intoxicated with alcohol or drugs for many times and still survive the experience but a person can hardly get intoxicated with water for more than once and survive the experience.

There are different symptoms of water intoxication.  In adults water intoxication may be characterised by nausea, slurred speech, headaches, hallucination, seizures, coma, respiratory arrest, and death.  In babies, evidence of water intoxication can take the form of changes in the mental status of the infant such as irritability or drowsiness, and a drop in the body temperature of the infant.

Water intoxication or hyponatremia is associated with the way in which water is ingested into the body .  The kidney of a healthy adult can process up-to 15 litres of water a day.   If a healthy adult should consume such litres of water over a long period of time, he will not suffer water intoxication.  However, if he should consume much of this water at one time he will suffer water intoxication.   

The good news is that the risk for water intoxication is low within the general population.  Many of us may never suffer water intoxication in our lifetime.  However, the risk for water intoxication is high among certain groups of the population.   Water intoxication can occur in infants less than 6 months of age if they are fed with baby formula which is over-diluted with water possibly done to save cost or due to act of ignorance.   It can also occur in schizophrenics whose behaviour is characterised by self-induced water drinking.  Furthermore the risk of water intoxication is high among endurance athletes who tend to drink too much water after endurance training to replenish the water lost through dehydration during the training.   

Treatment for water intoxication varies from one group of sufferer to another.  For infants, treatment for water intoxication involves taking the child sufferer to a pediatric ward where electrolyte can be administered to the child to raise the level of sodium in his or her body.  For schizophrenics, treatment for minor water intoxication can involve restricting the amount of fluid consumed by the schizophrenic in any particular period of time, while the treatment for serious cases might involve administering drugs such as diuretics to the patient.  For endurance athletes water intoxication can be treated by eating salty food to raise the level of sodium in the body.   This however should be done only after a long period of endurance exercise for the fact that consuming too much salt is harmful to health.

We may not be direct victims of water intoxication but may have people who may experience the problem.  Having this awareness that water is intoxicative can help us assist these individuals to overcome the problem.

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