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BLINDED DRINKING WATER
Woman loses sight after drinking too much water
(2007: Nov 22) SHE drank 7 litres of water a day to 'detoxify and reduce her blood
pressure'.
Thinking that the more water
she drank, the better it would be, she continued her habit and this went on for
three months.
But last month, this
26-year-old Taiwanese woman suddenly fainted at home. When she regained
consciousness a few days later, she was blind, reported Apple Daily Taiwan.
Doctors had said that the woman's condition is known as 'chronic water
intoxication'.
The amount of water she
drank daily is more than three times the recommended daily consumption for
sedentary adults.
Dr Jiang
Shou Shan, who treated her, told Apple Daily Taiwan
that his patient had no psychological illness nor any
other health problems, except that her blood pressure was 'on the high side'.
She was not named in the
report.
Dr Jiang
said: 'She mistakenly believes that the more water she drinks, the more she can
decrease her blood pressure.
'Hence, for three months, she
made herself drink 7 litres of water a day.'
Dr Jiang
added that initially, the woman would keep running to the toilet. But after
some time, it led to water intoxication.
Too much water consumed causes
hyponatremia, a condition where there is insufficient
sodium in the blood.
SWELLING IN BRAIN CELLS
As a result, the excess water
had to be absorbed by her body cells. Her brain cells swelled after taking in
the water, which led to increased pressure in her brain.
Dr Jiang
explained that the pressure caused bleeding in her occipital lobe. It is the
visual processing centre of the brain which contains most of the visual cortex.
Said Dr Jiang: 'The sodium in our blood maintains our cell
metabolism rate.
But once you drink too much water, the sodium ions will decrease, causing the
brain cells to swell.
'This will cause pressure and
lead to bleeding.'
Shin Min Daily News quoted a
doctor as saying that drinking too much water can be fatal.
The doctor, from
'Replacing this 'lost water'
is essential, but rehydration can be overdone,
leading to fatal water overdose,' said the doctor.
According to
doctors, the symptoms of water intoxication include headache, fatigue, nausea,
vomiting, frequent urination and mental disorientation.