If water were not so obviously essential, I wonder if it would now be even allowed:
If you drink too much water, eventually the kidneys will not be able to work fast enough to remove sufficient amounts from the body, so the blood becomes more dilute with low salt concentrations.
“If you drink too much water it lowers the concentration of salt in your blood so that it is lower than the concentration of salt in cells,” says Professor Robert Forrest, a consultant in clinical chemistry and forensic toxicology at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.
Professor Forrest continues:
“When the brain swells, it is inside a bony box so has nowhere to go,” he says. “The pressure increases in the skull and you may get a headache. As the brain is squeezed it compresses vital regions regulating functions such as breathing.”
Eventually these functions will be impaired and you are likely to stop breathing and die. Warning signs included confusion and headaches.
No sniggering. This is exactly what happened to a Californian lady after she had taken part in a water drinking contest (a sport which should obviously be banned forthwith).
A government task force is clearly needed to keep a constant eye on the water threat. Once that happens, health warnings on water bottles are only a matter of time. “Water can seriously damage your kidneys”, and so on. “Big Water” will be accused of peddling scaremongering stories about the alleged need for water, and the alleged benefits of water, and even nonsense about how, if you don’t regularly wash with it, that might be a danger to your health.
Some time ago, I recall someone translating “water” into “hydrogen oxide” or “oxygen di-hydride” or some such thing, and listing all the dangers of this profoundly dangerous fluid, such as the definite danger of contracting cancer if you drank, say, forty gallons of the stuff at one sitting, and quite a few safety nazis fell for it. Well, now such anti-water campaigners have some hard evidence to work with.
I’ve already heard of two hit pieces on Big Water.
Allegedly, bottled water has more contaminates in it than tap water in the U.S.
Also, Big Water apparently steals water from right under the feet of poor third worlders, and then has the gall to try to sell it back to them for ridiculous profits.
I’ve seen these both in documentary form, and I am sure the last one came from our lovely public broadcasting system.
dihydrogen monoxide h2o
I’ve already heard of two hit pieces on Big Water.
Allegedly, bottled water has more contaminates in it than tap water in the U.S.
Also, Big Water apparently steals water from right under the feet of poor third worlders, and then has the gall to try to sell it back to them for ridiculous profits.
I’ve seen these both in documentary form, and I am sure the last one came from our lovely public broadcasting system.
Dihydrogen Monoxide, yes. Also known as DHMO.
For those who want to follow up the brilliance of the Dihydrogen monoxide prank – here’s the link-
http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html
“Inhalation of even small quantities of Dihydrogen Monoxide can be fatal”.
They had arts students, greens and others signing a bloody petition to remove DMHO from the water supply.
I think the originators of this fearful scare were students in California. Hats off! I only wish I’d thought of it. Although I used to wind folk up about Sodium Chloride on the basis that both do some pretty evil stuff, so the combination…
You’d be surprised how many people bought it.
Because if it’s a health risk or about the environment some people will believe anything as long as it is bad.
I left my computers on last night so clearly I killed a little furry creature (Our Planet is Dying!!!!!). I usually do. My machines are running LIgandfit for Grid. I contribute to science in my sleep. Cool!
Seriously, though. Too much water is bad for you. That’s why I like a little whisky in mine. Anybody who takes part in a “water drinking contest” is an idiot. Did she die without having pushed out a puppy? If so there may be a Darwin in it for her.
Oh the humanity!
Also known as hydric acid.
Seriously, tho, this is why Gator-Aide or its equivalents are the thing to choogle when realy thirsty, and before it was developed straight salt pills were recommended.
Several years ago, the late US newspaper columnist Mike Royko wrote a pair of columns on companies having “material safety data sheets” on water in order to indemnify themselves from possible OSHA lawsuits. The columns survive on the internet here.
I like the comments on the effects of overexposure….
I knew all that talk abut drinking 2 liters of water a day was crap. Unless you’re in a marathon, your body evolved a good mechanism to tell you to have something to drink: thirst.
– Josh
The reaction to this story is kinda scary. I’ve heard people calling for the contest organizers to be charged with some sort of crime, or stating that they are “responsible” for her death. Amazing how little some people consider the concept of personal responsibility. Here’s what they need (ugh):
Warning: the DJs are not medical professionals. Consult a physician before undertaking any contest activities.
Snopes(Link):
In March 2004 the California municipality of Aliso Viejo (a suburb in Orange County) came within a cat’s whisker of falling for [the DHMO] hoax after a paralegal there convinced city officials of the danger posed by this chemical. The leg-pull got so far as a vote’s having been scheduled for the City Council on a proposed law that would have banned the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events because (among other things) they were made with DHMO, a substance that could “threaten human health and safety.”
Un-Dirty-Word-Believable.
Marathon runners get really ill from precisely this condition – it’s called hypoanatremia.
Nannying do-gooder race organisers give stupid advice like “drink before you get thirsty” and supply gallons and gallons of the stuff each mile, backing it up with completely bogus medical advice about the need to replace lost fluids and bodyweight.
As it turns out, you should drink when you get thirsty, and if you drink too much you get ill – advice that seems rather obvious to those of us more immune to helpful advice from above.
YouTube has some delicious video of US conjurers/pranksters Penn & Teller getting signatures on a petition to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. Hi-larious.
Claiming that bottled water contains more contaminants than tap water is kind-of odd, because the vast majority of the bottled water sold in the US IS tap water – purchased from municipal water systems.
There’s more c**p around drinking water in the US than you can shake a stick at. The consumer reporter John Stossel once set up a sting in a fancy restaurant, where he introduced a ‘water steward’ – like a wine steward. This guy was dressed in a fancy outfit, and came along with a list of waters in fancy bottles, just like a sommelier. And he had people raving about how wonderful his products were. The trick in the tale? All the bottles were filled from the hose on the restaurant patio – with NYC’s finest municiapl water.
Water’s useful stuff, but it’s been elevated to a minor deity by a whole legion of airheads. For me, like the song says – ‘Whisky for my men, and beer for my horses’.
llater,
llamas
This was exactly how Leah Betts died, not from the effects of Ecstasy but from drinking far too much water.
Which the govt did its best to hide by placing posters all over the country warning that Ecstasy killed her rather than advsing user to moderate the amout of water they consumed.
Follow the wise advice of W.C.Fields:
“I never drink water – it corrodes pipes and fish f*ck in it.”
Nuff said.
No Darwin I’m afraid – she was in the competition to win a Nintendo Wii games console for her two kids. Who are now, unfortunately, orphaned.
I wonder if either of them will develop a massive and crushing guilt complex?
Silly bitch should have stuck to beer . . .
Trav.
Beer could have a similar effect, as it has a very high DHMO content.
So it does. However, consumption of beer is a self-limiting process – even for one as experienced as myself . . .
All that water and she couldn’t even have a Wii! Poor cow.
TDH: you’d be surprised:-) In any case, all this certainly gives a new meaning to the expression “drink oneself to death”…
“The Sacramento sheriff’s office is investigating the possibility of criminal manslaughter charges on behalf of Jennifer Strange, who died last Friday in the water-drinking contest on Entercom CHR/top 40 KDND (107.9 The End)/Sacramento. Sheriff John McGinness told the Sacramento Bee that he will meet with officials from the DA’s office this afternoon to take a closer look at Strange’s death. Sacramento homicide detective are now investigating the circumstances of the incident, and, should they find that the members of the Morning Rave failed to help Strange, charges could be filed.
Initially, McGinness said that he didn’t think a criminal case would take place since Strange freely took part in the contest, but having reviewed tapes of the show in question — during which the Morning Rave were warned of and then dismissed the potential dangers of water intoxication on the air — he thinks there may be the potential for a criminal case”
R&R’s calls to the Sacramento Sheriff’s office have not yet been returned.”
To hear audio of the show, follow this link
Thanks pip,
(a) Jennifer Strange says it all really.
(b) I shall now sleep peaceably knowing I can listen to audio of a woman killing herself drinking water, via the internet. The wonders of the communications revolution never cease.