Hyponatremia

[Vieope]

Runners, hikers, bikers, even soldiers on long maneuvers should think twice before reaching for that water bottle: A study confirms that drinking too much can be dangerous, even deadly, for endurance athletes.
Researchers who studied 488 runners in the 2002 Boston Marathon found that 62, or more than one in eight, had a serious fluid and salt imbalance from drinking too much water or sports drinks. Three of them had extreme imbalances.
One 28-year-old woman died after the race from the condition, called hyponatremia, in which the excess water dilutes the salt level in the body too much.
"More is definitely not better when it comes to fluids, but it's a hard message to get across," said Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Endurance athletes have long been warned about getting dehydrated, and many tend to drink more on race day than they do during training.
The study was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers, led by Dr. Christopher Almond, a cardiologist at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston, tested Boston Marathon runners' blood after the race and collected information on their condition, race time and liquid intake.
They found hyponatremia was most serious in runners who gained substantial weight — 4 1/2 pounds to 11 pounds — from drinking lots of water along the route. Extremely thin runners also were at high risk. Runners who drank sports drinks, which contain very little salt, were not less likely to develop hyponatremia.
Bonci and Almond said a good way to prevent problems is for athletes to weigh themselves before and after training sessions. If they gain significant weight, they should cut back on water intake until they find the right balance — long before race day.
The goal is simply to replace water lost to sweating.
Hyponatremia can begin with confusion and lethargy and progress rapidly to twitching, seizures, stupor, coma and death.
Severe cases are believed to have become more common with the growing popularity of endurance sports. In recent years, hyponatremia has killed several amateur marathon runners, as well as competitors in the Marine Corps Marathon.

Source=Yahoo News, Health - Associated Press

 

[Little Wing]

wow. scary. but you'd think common sense would keep people, who don't have humps, from watering up like a camel goin on a desert trek.

 

[Vieope]

wow. scary.

 

[Big Smoothy]

wow. scary. but you'd think common sense would keep people, who don't have humps, from watering up like a camel goin on a desert trek.

Interesting is that camels humps are comprised of fat and not water.

But seriously, I think that many people drink too much water, myself included at times. I'll never come close to dying but I do think my salt levels have been in an imbalance.

Question: is adding little sodium a way to counter this?

 

[Vieope]

Question: is adding little sodium a way to counter this?

Yes. Electrolytes.

 

[Yanick]

i think the risk is way overblown. drinking water all day won't have much of an affect unless your working outdoors and sweating all day. mostly marathons runners and crackheads in clubs suffer.

 

[grant]

so how do you gage what your water intake should be?? I know you should never feel thirsty...

 

[BulkMeUp]

so how do you gage what your water intake should be?? I know you should never feel thirsty...

Water Tips

If your goal is to maintain a minimum level of hydration, then the `8 glass' rule is acceptable. That???s 8 full glasses of water every day. However, if your goal is to carry a buffer against toxic chemicals, offset the negative impact of processed and preserved foods that are consumed, or compensate for additional activity, then you should drink even more.
...
10 Water Tips:
...
6. Take the urine test - if it is pale and almost colourless than you are well hydrated - it is dark than you probably need more fluids
...

 

[Vieope]

Did you know Bulk that the research of 8 cups of water takes in consideration the water in foods? That is why most people don´t die. I know many people that drink just one or two glasses of water a day.

 

[BulkMeUp]

Did you know Bulk that the research of 8 cups of water takes in consideration the water in foods? That is why most people don´t die. I know many people that drink just one or two glasses of water a day.

Yes, i do remember reading that. I think they took into consideration ALL items that contained water.. food , coffee..etc.. and the recommendation is mainly for the average-ass-on-couch-and-remote-in-hand-joe. But most donot even get that!

It can be quite dangerous to rely on thirst alone in determining your body's need for water. In fact, if you feel thirsty, you are probably already dehydrated. As we age, we lose our perception of thirst and usually fail to drink adequate amounts of water.

It is estimated that about 80% of North Americans suffer from energy loss due to minor dehydration. When you do not drink enough water, not only can you experience the physical effects of dehydration, but you will also experience the mental impact.

However those of us who are more active, need to get in adequate (plain) water throughout the day. I always use the pee test to gauge if i am getting enough. But there is something as too much water, as your thread suggests

I know ppl who dont drink any water. Only soda/pop

 

[Vieope]

Yes, i do remember reading that. I think they took into consideration ALL items that contained water.. food , coffee..etc.. and the recommendation is mainly for the average-ass-on-couch-and-remote-in-hand-joe. But most donot even get that!

I designed a hose system that would solve their problem right away.

 

[BulkMeUp]

I designed a hose system that would solve their problem right away.

Guess where i would like to stick that hose into those lazy dumbasses!