Friend almost died from “water poisoning.”

[Michael]

Paul F. wrote:
The number of people in human history who have NOT died from rabies is so small as to be insignificant...
Except for the one that recovered 100 yards from where I'm sitting... She made national news. It was a big deal.

I just googled that. WebMD says there's a 99.9% mortality rate in humans if not treated before symptoms appear. Then they (very usefully!) tell us the symptoms. I had no idea that it, "...has the highest mortality rate ...of any disease on earth..."

Wow...

[Paul F.]

Michael wrote:
[quote=Paul F.]
The number of people in human history who have NOT died from rabies is so small as to be insignificant...
Except for the one that recovered 100 yards from where I'm sitting... She made national news. It was a big deal.

I just googled that. WebMD says there's a 99.9% mortality rate in humans if not treated before symptoms appear. Then they (very usefully!) tell us the symptoms. I had no idea that it, "...has the highest mortality rate ...of any disease on earth..."

Wow...
I didn't know squat about Rabies until the third person known in all of human history survived it here locally. Then I found a podcast episode that detailed the first person known at that time to have survived it.
It's more than 99.9% fatal. It's more than 99.99% fatal. It's more like 99.999999% fatal.

I can highly recommend the Radio Labs episode, "Rodney vs. Death" - https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/rad...rsus-death

Darn interesting story! And, yeah, don't ever take a bat or other critter bite lightly! The shots aren't as painful as they were "way back when"... but, dying screaming, convulsing, and foaming at the mouth, not knowing where you are, thrashing around in pain? I'd shoot that post-exposure treatment in my eyeball to avoid that.

[pRICE cUBE]

Water Intoxication can cause death because it causes an imbalanced of electrolytes and it can mess with the brain.


https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16614865

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.

“She said to one of our supervisors that she was on her way home and her head was hurting her real bad,” said Laura Rios, one of Strange’s co-workers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento. “She was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her.”

It was not immediately know how much water Strange consumed.

A preliminary investigation found evidence “consistent with a water intoxication death,” said assistant Coroner Ed Smith.

[testcase]

I have to wonder if this person was following some "miracle diet". I expect he had problems with his kidneys and / or bladder for this to occur. Normally, a person who drinks massive amounts of water simply eliminates excess water through urination. The American diet tends to be VERY high in added salts so, it takes some doing to affect one's electrolyte balance.

[RAMd®d]

A woman died many years ago drinking too much water in an attempt to win a radio station contest. Family sued the station and IIRC won the lawsuit.


I remember hearing about that when it happened.

She was trying to win a game console for her son.

Almost nobody new water poisoning was a thing, and a lot of people made stupid comments about her being greedy and that basically she got what was coming to her.

A/Hs.

A listener who was a nurse (RN?) called in to say what they were doing was dangerous, and one of the radio employees said something to the effect 'It's ok, they signed waivers'.

A/H.

Nobody else listening seemed to know enough about water poisoning to put a stop to the contest.

The woman when home, and later died.

[RAMd®d]

I hope your friend recovers, but I have to wonder about the extend of possible permanent damage.

Recently, I came across an article about staying hydrated for one specific reason or another, I don't recall exactly.

But to its credit (or the author's) there was a mention in passing, of symptoms of drinking too much water and 'diluting the salt content' on one's body.

Not a thorough explanation by any means, but I was surprised to see it addressed at all.

[pRICE cUBE]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication


At the onset of this condition, fluid outside the cells has an excessively low amount of solutes, such as sodium and other electrolytes, in comparison to fluid inside the cells, causing the fluid to move into the cells to balance its osmotic concentration. This causes the cells to swell. The swelling increases intracranial pressure in the brain, which leads to the first observable symptoms of water intoxication: headache, personality changes, changes in behavior, confusion, irritability, and drowsiness. These are sometimes followed by difficulty breathing during exertion, muscle weakness & pain, twitching, or cramping, nausea, vomiting, thirst, and a dulled ability to perceive and interpret sensory information. As the condition persists, papillary and vital signs may result including bradycardia and widened pulse pressure. The cells in the brain may swell to the point where blood flow is interrupted resulting in cerebral edema. Swollen brain cells may also apply pressure to the brain stem causing central nervous system dysfunction. Both cerebral edema and interference with the central nervous system are dangerous and could result in seizures, brain damage, coma or death.[13]

[ztirffritz]

That RadioLab episode is fantastic.

[RAMd®d]

I have to wonder if this person was following some "miracle diet".


I'd certainly expect some specific motivation to drink the required level of water over a short time, as seemed to be the case of the few references I've seen.

Without that, I just can't imagine someone sitting around and drinking that much water.

I'd expect someone would just get bored or 'full' and back away.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Water intoxication and Hyperthermia have several of the same symptoms. The big difference seems to be Water intoxication has slower heart beat and Hyperthermia has faster heart beat.