Hold your wee for a Wii!!!!!!! n then go die!!

[geoffgarcia]

"SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- A woman who competed in a radio station's contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom died of water intoxication, the coroner's office said Saturday.

Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/13/wat....ap/index.html
______________________________________________________

How much water

water intoxication.
What happens is the sodium level in the blood reaches very low levels (because of dilution by excess water which can only be excreted in the urine, sweat or breath). This disturbs water balance in the brain, which can cause epileptic seizures and even death.

Research has shown that a person can safely drink up to 10 liters of water a day. An exception would be persons with kidney disease who are limited in the amount of water they can drink per day. Persons with bladder infections benefit from increasing their water intake.
http://www.dietitian.com/fluids.html

A large volume of water thins the blood and can actually make you "drunk." It washes water soluble nutrients (such as B vitamins) from the body. For a few persons with congestive heart disease or other conditions, serious edema or other conditions might occur. The kidneys have to work harder to remove the excess water from the body and that too must be taken into account. Someone drinking a lot of water would have to take vitamins and minerals to replace those purged from the body and would have to carefully avoid salt.
http://www.prisoners.com/cwaterd.html

"water intoxication." Is usually associated with long distance events like running and cycling, it’s not an unusual problem.
For example, water intoxication was reported in 18% of marathon runners and in 29% of the finishers in a Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon in studies published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine and in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise respectively.

What happens is that as the athlete consumes large amounts of water over the course of the event, blood plasma (the liquid part of blood) increases. As this takes place, the salt content of the blood is diluted. At the same time, the athlete is losing salt by sweating. Consequently, the amount of salt available to the body tissues decreases over time to a point where the loss interferes with brain, heart, and muscle function.

The official name for this condition is hyponatremia. The symptoms generally mirror those of dehydration (apathy, confusion, nausea, and fatigue), although some individuals show no symptoms at all. If untreated, hyponatremia can lead to coma and even death.

Enough, but not too much. The fluid requirement for the majority of endurance athletes, under most conditions, is about 8 to 16 ounces per hour. There is considerable variation here, of course, due to individual sweating rates, body size and weight, heat and humidity, and running speed, and other factors. Still, much more than this amount of fluid is, in most instances, probably physiologically excessive as well as uncomfortable, as liquid sloshes around in the gut during the activity.

It is now thought people should follow the dictates of thirst and not to exceed 1-1.5 quarts per hour
http://healthfactsandfears.com/featu...ter072403.html

1 liter = 4.22675282 US cups
1 US gallon = 3.7854118 liters
1 US cup = 8 US fluid ounces
1 US quart = 4 US cups
1 US gallon = 4 US quarts

4-6 cups, or 32-48oz per hour is close to the limit

and 42 cups, 336oz, 2.65 gallons is around the safe daily intake limit, although its considered VERY high and beyond overkill

[dblockspky]

I had saw that article yesterday. That's pretty unbelievable. I was never aware you could drink too much water. I guess in essence you can't because a normal person would have went to the bathroom. It's even worse because the woman was doing it for her family. That must be a horrible feeling for her kids

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

If you drink too much in a very short period of time, you can die, yes. A "Water Drinking Contest" is the stupidest and most ignorant thing I've ever heard of. Some people on here drink a gallon or more every day, but it's fine because they drink it throughout the day, not all at once. A college kid wanted to join a frat and he too died from doing a stupid test where he had to drink a gallon of water in a very short period of time. =\

[ArchAngel777]

I smell a lawsuit...

[geoffgarcia]

I had saw that article yesterday. That's pretty unbelievable. I was never aware you could drink too much water. I guess in essence you can't because a normal person would have went to the bathroom.

she didn't die because she didn't go to the bathroom, she probably died because she drank to much and it diluted the water balance in her system

[jamrock]

Did she win the Wii?

[DGabe24]

Did she win the Wii?

Have you no compassion?

[BostonBull]

I have heard of this before. If you drink too much water in a short period of time it dillutes the salt in your system, and it also drains vital fluids and minerals out of your organs and "drowns" them. Their is also a group of weirdos out there who will drink water till the verge of death, right before the point of death is supposedly an unbelievable high that lasts a few minutes.

I work outiside all year in the really hot summer days the boss insists we drink gatorade, or take salt tablets with our water to prevent anything like this happening. Theres quite the few days in the summer when we drink 3 or more gallons in a ten hour day.

[Avatar4321]

I had saw that article yesterday. That's pretty unbelievable. I was never aware you could drink too much water. I guess in essence you can't because a normal person would have went to the bathroom. It's even worse because the woman was doing it for her family. That must be a horrible feeling for her kids

most people arent aware because its so unusual.

[jamrock]

Have you no compassion?

Me? There is nothing that can be done about this, that whole state is destined to die.

Think of it, why didn't anyone call in and mention the possibility of water intoxication? I would have.

The least the station can do is offer her family consolation prizes, it will be the appetizer before the law-suit check arrives.

/I fark
//Pardon my arrogance.

[nzk]

I have heard of this before. If you drink too much water in a short period of time it dillutes the salt in your system, and it also drains vital fluids and minerals out of your organs and "drowns" them. Their is also a group of weirdos out there who will drink water till the verge of death, right before the point of death is supposedly an unbelievable high that lasts a few minutes..

there is so much misinformation about hyponatremia out there...
drinking large amounts of water faster than your kidneys can get rid of it lowers the sodium concentration in the blood, this leads to the movement of fluid from the blood to the tissues causing them to swell. this is most detremental in the brain where its encased inside a rigid skull, as the brain swells, the tissue is compressed, blood flow is reduced, this leads to initially headaches (which the story describes) blurry vision, high blood pressure, eventually coma and respiratory failure or aspiration and then death.

there is no draining of vital fluids and minerals, no drowning, and no high, ive seen many people with life threatening hyponatremia and its not a pleasant experience.

this is different from working in the sun all day and drinking gallons of water. kidneys are very smart little organs, they can really hold on to 99% of the salt while getting rid of excess water. the problem of course is salt lost while sweating, and this why its recommended to drink water with a touch of salt, ideally a 0.9% salt/water mix. you are basically replacing what you lose in sweat and airway moisture, along with the basal requirement of water for basic biochemical functions.

[jamrock]

there is so much misinformation about hyponatremia out there...
drinking large amounts of water faster than your kidneys can get rid of it lowers the sodium concentration in the blood, this leads to the movement of fluid from the blood to the tissues causing them to swell. this is most detremental in the brain where its encased inside a rigid skull, as the brain swells, the tissue is compressed, blood flow is reduced, this leads to initially headaches (which the story describes) blurry vision, high blood pressure, eventually coma and respiratory failure or aspiration and then death.

there is no draining of vital fluids and minerals, no drowning, and no high, ive seen many people with life threatening hyponatremia and its not a pleasant experience.

this is different from working in the sun all day and drinking gallons of water. kidneys are very smart little organs, they can really hold on to 99% of the salt while getting rid of excess water. the problem of course is salt lost while sweating, and this why its recommended to drink water with a touch of salt, ideally a 0.9% salt/water mix. you are basically replacing what you lose in sweat and airway moisture, along with the basal requirement of water for basic biochemical functions.

Do you have links to this information? I'm not denying, in fact its the most accurate ive heard it explained.. I just have some people I want to educate.

[BostonBull]

Thanks fr clearing that up. I would like to see links also. I am not doubting you. I got this information last year from a 60 minutes report about young kids drinking water to chase that high, and going too far and dieing.

[snow]

I had the misfortune of drinking too much water. I was lifting and was pounding the liquid within a time period of about an hour. A little later I started to see green spots that began to encompass my whole range of vision and I started to feel outside of myself, as if I was high. It was quite scary. The doctor told me there is a fine balance between sodium and water in your body, which apparently regulates some major organs. When you are sweating and sweating, as well as drinking excess amounts of water, you're throwing that balance off.

[miken5254]

I smell a lawsuit...

According to the article the contest-holders gave them a warning.


What a stupid way to die.

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

If the contest holders knew the risk they shouldn't have held the contest. That is asinine.

[irish_dec]

it is indeed a daft way to die, but to be honest im sure i would have given it a go myself, being ignorant to the fact that too much water can cause death!

[PhilsterT]

What happens to the bladder at the point? Does it just not register the water intake and decide not to piss it out? And, if you are taking salt tablets how much water can you drink?

[Cirino83]

Water drinking contest is as intelligent as a whiskey chugging contest.

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

^^

Except your body will probably black out before you get alcohol poisoning.

[Levantar]

If the contest holders knew the risk they shouldn't have held the contest. That is asinine.

Maybe you should explain that to people who hold the following contests (for example). Motorcycle racing, Car racing, some X-games events, Food eating contests ect.

Maybe adults should be smart enough to make up their own minds after hearing about the risks involved?

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

You can die doing a lot of things. I suppose you could just never go outside as well. I don't think their warning was "You may die during this contest...good luck!" I'd like to see what their warning was.

Maybe adults should be smart enough to make up their own minds after hearing about the risks involved?

Never underestimate human stupidity.

[FireRescue]

Think of it, why didn't anyone call in and mention the possibility of water intoxication? I would have./Pardon my arrogance.

There were several calls but the disk jockey's blew it off believing that you would puke the water up before you died.

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

^^

Then they should be held accountable. That is ridiculous.

[nzk]

Thanks fr clearing that up. I would like to see links also. I am not doubting you. I got this information last year from a 60 minutes report about young kids drinking water to chase that high, and going too far and dieing.

actually im a physician so i guess my source is medical text, but any reputable online website will go into further detail...just search for hyponatremia and water intoxication.

where the contest holders went wrong was when they went from 8 oz bottles every 15 minutes to bigger bottles more frequently. its not about how much water you drink, its how fast you drink it. the bladder has nothing to do with the elimination of water, its just a reservoir for the urine made by the kidneys. the kidneys have a limit to how much they can excrete, once this is overcome, detrimental changes occur. im sure the contestants signed a waiver though, otherwise it would be a slam dunk reckless endangerment case.