water intoxication
Sign in to saveAlso known as water poisoning, overhydration, Water toxemia
excessive intake of water
Key facts
- Specialty
- Toxicology , critical care medicine
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
4,003 papers- Water intoxication awareness.The Nurse practitioner · 1999
- Water intoxication in cattle.Journal of the South African Veterinary Association · 1999
- Water intoxication-a dangerous condition in labor and delivery rooms.Obstetrical & gynecological survey · 2007
- Water intoxication treatment.Biological psychiatry · 1990
- Water intoxication.American journal of diseases of children (1960) · 1992
via PubMed
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning, hyperhydration, overhydration, or water toxemia, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that can result when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside safe limits by excessive water intake.
In normal circumstances, accidentally consuming too much water is exceptionally rare. Most deaths related to water intoxication in healthy individuals have resulted either from water-drinking contests, in which individuals attempt to consume large amounts of water, or from long bouts of exercise during which excessive amounts of fluid were consumed. In addition, water cure, a method of torture in which the victim is forced to consume excessive amounts of water, can cause water intoxication.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “water intoxication” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.