Friday, January 19, 2007

BINGE DRINKING.

It's Friday! WOOHOO! I missed the gym last week cause I'd pulled my neck and all, but I got tha chance ta go back last night. I have healed! I HAVE HEALED!

You've heard about people drinking so much alcohol that they die, but did ya know you can actually drink so much water at one time that it can kill you? That's exactly what happened to
this woman, who really wanted to win a Nintendo Wii and participated in a radio contest where ya had to drink lots of water and not urinate. The woman died of water intoxication, and now the radio station DJs and several other employees are in big trouble; facing lawsuits and penalties of all kinds.

This sounds like a most unpleasant kind of death indeed:

Most water intoxication is caused by hyponatremia, an overdilution of sodium in the blood plasma, which in turn causes an osmotic shift of water from extracellular fluid (outside of cells) to intracellular fluid (within cells). The cells swell as a result of changes in osmotic pressure and may cease to function. When this occurs in the cells of the central nervous system and brain, water intoxication is the result. Additionally, many other cells in the body may undergo cytolysis, wherein cell membranes that are unable to stand abnormal osmotic pressures rupture, killing the cells. Initial symptoms typically include light-headedness, sometimes accompanied by nausea, vomiting, headache and/or malaise. Plasma sodium levels below 100 mmol/L (2.3g/L) frequently result in cerebral edema, seizures, coma, and death within a few hours of drinking the excess water. As with alcohol poisoning, the progression from mild to severe symptoms may occur rapidly as the water continues to enter the body from the intestines or intravenously.

Yeah, drink yer 8 glasses, but spread it out evenly throughout the day okay?

5 comments:

Gavin Elster said...

It sounds like a painful way to die.

Eddie said...

Poor woman. I heard that the whole idea came from two radio DJ's who use the name "Wii" which sounds like a slang word for pee (wee).

Still haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth.

M- Filer said...

Damn....who knew?

Sebastien Millon said...

Yeah, I saw that story... What a terrible pointless way to go.

Anonymous said...

Thts crazy!