Drinking Too Much Water Is Hyponatremia

It is a fact that all living organisms need water to survive. To us, humans, water is an essential need since about seventy percent of our body is made up of water. However, excessive consumption of water can lead to many threaatening consequences, and sometimes, even death. This condition is called water intoxication. According to Medical News Today, one of the fatal side effects of drinking too much water is hyponatremia, where water “dilute the electrolytes in your blood,” causes the sodium level to drop. And since sodium take part in balancing the fluids in as well as around the cells, when it drops, it will cause the fluids from your blood to move to the inside of the cells, resulting them to swell. Brain swelling, or cerebral edema, which
can be caused by injuries, blood clots, and hyponatremia, is the condition where the cells inside your brain swell up and increase the pressure inside the skull (e Medicine Health). Because our brain is protected by a firm skull, when the swelling happens, the blood vessels will become compressed and the oxygen supply will be cut off, at the same time, the cells will become “damaged and die.” The symptoms usually includes headache, nausea, seizures, coma… and in worse cases, death. So in conclusion, it is true that “drinking too much water can cause swelling of brain cells,” it is also extremely dangerous and requires immediate medical attentions.