At the end of 2023 the American actress Brooke Shields she suffered an epileptic attack after “flooding” her body with water, as she herself said in an interview. Shields explained that she was preparing for the show when she felt strange and disoriented. However, she left to go to the restaurant when the situation worsened: «Suddenly everything went black, I ended up with my head against the wall and I was foaming at the mouth». The cause of the serious illness, it was later ascertained, was the sodium deficiency because to prepare for the show he drank a lot of water. Too much water. «If there is not enough sodium in the blood or urine you can risk an epileptic seizure» underlined the actress.
Hyponatremia
Adam Taylor, director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Center at Lancaster University with an article in The Conversation, recalls that as happened to Shields, many people may not be aware of the dangers caused by drinking excessive amounts of water, especially because hydration it is often associated with numerous health benefits. However, excessive water consumption can cause hyponatremia, potentially fatal condition due to low sodium content in the blood.
The importance of sodium
Our body needs the sodium to maintain normal blood pressure, support the functions of nerves and muscles and regulate the level of fluids in the cells, but its concentration is a delicate balance based on a continuous relationship between osmoreceptors and antidiuretic hormone. In fact, sodium is one of the the body’s most important electrolytes which poorly tolerates its variations in blood concentration.
How much water to consume
Adults should consume two to three liters per day, of which 20% comes from food. However, in critical conditions, through the sweating we can lose up to ten liters of water: sweating during physical activity or when it’s hot increases the amount of water we have to drink to replace the lost fluids.
Overhydration due to mental pathologies
Some medical conditions can cause overhydration. About one in five schizophrenic patients drink water compulsively, a dangerous condition known as psychogenic polydipsia, a clinical disorder characterized by excessive fluid intake. In some cases, people with anorexia nervosa may also suffer from compulsive water drinking. For those who suffer from polydipsia, treatment focuses on medications to reduce the urge to drink, as well as increasing sodium levels. This should be done gradually to avoid causing myelinolysis, a neurological damage caused by rapid changes in sodium levels in nerve cells.
Symptoms of sodium deficiency
It is the brain that is particularly sensitive to changes in the level of sodium in the blood and consequently the first symptoms to appear are drowsiness, lethargy, mental confusion, nausea, vomiting, convulsions up to coma. As the condition progresses, water intoxication often leads patients to exhibit symptoms of psychosis such as inappropriate and over-the-top behavior, confusion, disorientation, hallucinations. They are all disorders caused byhyponatremia And the consequent imbalance of electrolytes which affects the nervous system.
Other diseases that lead to sodium depletion
Conditions such as kidney disease, cirrhosis or heart failure can also cause it sodium and fluid retention, but often the body retains a greater quantity of liquids than sodium, which is therefore diluted. Also anProfuse sweating can lead to hyponatremia. Medicines such as diuretics finally, they are another common cause of this condition because they increase the secretion of water, but also sodium, particularly in the elderly. Another frequent cause is syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (Siadh)in which there is an excessive and unmotivated production ofantidiuretic hormone, which reduces the excretion of water from the kidneys: by retaining more water in the body, sodium becomes diluted. In hospitals, approximately 30% of patients hospitalized with acute or chronic pathologies have a low sodium level. A Swedish study from a couple of years ago highlighted how global warming could increase hospitalizations caused by low sodium levels.
Self-regulation
A healthy body however is capable of self-regulate with water consumption. When you are thirsty and the color of your urine is dark and smelly (except when you eat asparagus) then you need to drink more. If you are not thirsty and the urine is light straw in colour, it means that you are hydrating correctly.
