Woman drinks so much water she dies (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

That's true. I never really knew exactly what the details where, but I've always known that drinking too much water was bad. But isn't that like anything else?? Doesn't common sense tell you that too much of anything can be really bad?

 

[Rob Gardiner]

We can only hope that this senseless tragedy helps to raise awareness about the dangers of the toxic substance HYDROGEN HYDROXIDE.

In addition to causing death by intoxication, this insidious chemical:

* is a major component of acid rain
* contributes to the erosion of our natural environment
* may cause serious burns
* may cause electrical failures
* contributes to the greenhouse effect

This does not prevent big business from using hydrogen hydroxide as a flame retardant, solvent, industrial coolant, in the distribution of pesticides, or as an additive to many unhealthy fat-laden junk foods.

BAN HYDROGEN HYDROXIDE TODAY

 

[andrew markworthy]

As some of you know, I'm a psychologist, and before we do any experiment, we have to have our research proposal vetted and passed by an ethics committee. I'm trying to imagine how the water drinking contest would look as a proposal for a psychology experiment being sent for ethical scrutiny:

Summary of proposed procedure: in a measure of the power of motivation to overcome physical discomfort, participants will be encouraged to swallow as much water as possible without urinating. A prize of an electronic toy (a Wii) will be awarded to the participant consuming the largest amount. To examine the effect of being observed on motivation, the proceedings will be broadcast on the radio. Participants will not be given a thorough physical and psychological assessment before taking part in the study. In addition, there will be no follow-up psychiatric counselling available. [Apologies if these procedures were in place in the radio contest, but I've never heard of such a thing].

Possible risks: negative affect in losing participants; potential distress and long-lasting embarrassment and loss of esteem if loss of bladder control; potential negative comments about participants seen as willing to humiliate themselves for a toy; death from water intoxication.

I'd say it'd stand a pretty good chance of being passed, wouldn't you?

 

[MarkHastings]

I was just thinking, if she only got second place, I wonder what happened to the winner?

 

[mylan]

Now thats what you call morbid curiosity!!!

 

[Dave_Brown]

Winner should be charged with involuntary manslaughter, since they also encouraged her to drink too much.

 

[Bryan X]

Apparently the staff at the radio station are NOT Home Theater fanatics. If they were, there is no doubt in my mind that the station whould have provided Silica for each contestant to ingest following the competition. Had this been the case, a terrible tragedy could have been avoided.

 

[Marty M]

The winner is fine. She was interviewed on one of the network newscasts for her reaction to the story. I guess she is one lucky person.

 

[Jimi C]

Is that from Bullshit?

 

[Rob Gardiner]

It's a well known internet hoax, usually presented with the term "dihydrogen monoxide", although I seem to remember from chemistry class back in high school that water is a hydrogen ion and a hydroxide (OH) ion, therefore "hydrogen hydroxide" is the proper term. All the facts are true. However, they are presented in a misleading fashion, intended to influence the reader to advocate for a ban on water.


Perhaps the woman in the contest should have been suspicious of the fact that the water offered her was bottled drinking water, and not distilled or rain water. Has she never heard of a thing called fluoridation of water? Is she not aware the fluoridation is the most insidious Communist plot we have ever had to face? Seven tenths of the Earth's surface is water. Over seventy percent of you is water. And as human beings, we require fresh, pure water to replenish our natural bodily fluids. Now are you beginning to understand???

 

[Chu Gai]

As more of the earth's surface becomes covered with water, will we need to be made up of more water?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

He was referring to an episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit where they went to a tree hugger convention and got the spokesperson from one of the environmental groups to help them collect signatures to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. As soon as she heard the word "ban", she took to it like a fish to wate . . . uhhh . . . H2O.

 

[Chu Gai]

Dee, dee, dee.

 

[JeremyErwin]

is just to keep the lawyers happy. It's harmless. Really. Just like drinking too much water.

 

[Bryan X]

Yeah, maybe I should have put a disclaimer on my Silica comment incase anyone is unfamiliar with the 'silica thread'.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Was it ever announced how much water the woman who died drank?

I really think the biggest cause was not the amount of water, but the fact that she went a long time without urinating as her body was no doubt telling her she needed to do.

The article says people were given 8 oz of water every 15 min. That is a quart per hour. That is not an excessive amount in my opinion, IF you are urinating as needed. Geez, a Big Gulp is bigger than a quart, and I'm sure most people drink one in less than an hour... yet they don't die from it. Is soda somehow safer than water? I doubt it has the electrolytes or other stuff in Gatorade that helps with this problem.

I had assumed they were drinking a lot more than that, maybe a gallon an hour- my first guess was that they had a ton of water bottles there and were chugging them as fast as possible.

I know I sometimes drink that much in an hour, and I don't think it's a problem at all, but when I feel the urge to pee, I do, and I definitely don't keep drinking until I've done that.

I'm not trying to dismiss the water intoxication, since I know it's real, but I think if she had drank the same amount of water in the same time period, but had been going to the bathroom as the urge struck, she would have been fine.

Don't interpret this as me endorsing the contest, since I think it was stupid. I've heard the recordings on the radio, and it's pretty clear the radio people knew the contestants were at risk but laughed it off.

I hope this story doesn't scare people from drinking water. I normally drink 1-2 gallons a day, which is not excessive when spread out. It's maybe a one-pint bottle per hour that I'm not sleeping.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

She drank 2 gallons.

 

[MarkHastings]

Perhaps she didn't eat anything either (to replenish her salt) - It sounded like she felt sick and probably went home to lie down (thinking she just had a headache). It's possible that she didn't eat anything and just decided to sleep it off.

And besides, as far as being scared to drink water, I can't even begin to imagine drinking 1 gallon, let alone 2!!

 

[Brian D H]

Yes, soda is less dangerous in this case. It may not be as balanced with electrolytes as Gatorade, but it's better than water since at least it has SOME salts in it.

Second question: She didn't feel the need - her kidneys simply couldn't keep up with the volume. Perhaps the "winner" had better kidneys than she did.

 

[MarkHastings]

Doesn't soda have a ton of sodium in it? I know my dad (who has to watch his salt intake) is always reading sodium content on soda cans.