Yes, you can die from drinking too much water

by Adams Briscoe (Subscribe to Adams Briscoe's posts)
Feb 5th 2008 6:30AM

Categories: Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements

Sometimes the phrase "everything in moderation" just describes the situation perfectly. Take this guy, for example, who accidentally drank himself to death -- with water.

It's a tragic account of water intoxication, or hyper-hydration. How does something like this happen? Well, nobody around Shaun McNamara thought he was consuming too much liquid. But due to an unhealthy amount of water, vital nutrients such as sodium were diluted to a deadly level. He died from a swollen brain. The situation was ruled as an accidental death, but the 35-year-old had a history of depression. Water intoxication is very uncommon, but when it happens they usually link to a marathon runner.

Don't go bury your Aquafina or return your tap filter; it just goes to show you that even over-consumption of a good thing can be bad.

Reusable water bottles(click thumbnails to view gallery)

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Comments (37)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

evil dave 2-06-2008 @ 6:09AM

Got Milk?

annie 2-06-2008 @ 6:25AM

you have to drink about 3 gallons of water to have this happen. there was a radio contest last year where contestants had to drink water and whoever held out the longest w/o going pee won whatever they were playing for. one woman went home and died of water intoxication and they determined that she had about 3 gallons.

Mia 2-06-2008 @ 7:14AM

Yes, Annie, I remember this... The prize was a Nintendo(?)Wii. Hold your wee for a Wii or something like that. The DJs got fired, the station managers got fired, and the woman left behind three kids, if my memory serves me. Tragic, what some businesses will do for publicity, and what some uninformed people will do for their kids. I think this woman would've better served her kids ALIVE and WITHOUT a Wii...

TRISH73 2-06-2008 @ 12:44PM

aNNIE, THAT INCIDENT, YOU WERE SPEAKING OF, HAPPENED IN sACRAMENTO, LAST YEAR, i BELIEVE. sHE WAS TRYING TO WIN HER SON, SOME TYPE OF EXPENSIVE GAME, A RADIO STATION WAS OFFERING. wHAT A SHAME, IT COST HER, AND HER FAMILY DEARLY. fOR A CRUMMY GAME, HER CHILDREN NO LONGER HAVE A MOTHER

Wretched Excess 2-06-2008 @ 7:40AM

It just reinforces the truism that moderation is the key to almost anything. Anything in excess is, well, excessive and probably not good, healthy, or even fun.

rjmarra3 2-06-2008 @ 8:29AM

YOU CAN ALSO DIE FROM WATER INTOXICATION IF YOU TAKE ECSTASY. IT MAKES YOU DRINK ALOT. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY DOCUMENTED DEATHS AMONG TEENS AND OLDER PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIED LIKE THIS FROM RAVE PARTIES, AND OTHER CLUBS, JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE. THE DRUGS CAUSE TOO MANY PROBLEMS. TOO BAD THE GOVERNMENT MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY OFF IF THEM TO REALLY STOP THEIR DISTRIBUTION.

j 2-06-2008 @ 12:10PM

you are a retard. When people like you open there mouths, we are all dumber for hearing it

tonybndc 2-06-2008 @ 8:14AM

Thats why I drink Heineken

kat 2-06-2008 @ 8:25AM

As a former nurse, I have known about this condition a long time. We used to have certain patients we had to watch to make sure they did not consume too much water. This was especially true of certain psychiatric pts. who were on certain medications.

Christine 2-06-2008 @ 8:45AM

I had a friend who almost did this....he had heard that you could lose weight quickly by drinking your body weight(in ounces) of water. So while working one day he drank 180 ounces of water (working his way up to 210 ounces) in about two hours....he got really sick, his face turned BRIGHT red and he couldn't quit shaking, so he drove home, and on the way home he thought he should try to sweat so he turned on the heat full blast....then when he got home he tried to exercise, thinking maybe he needed to get all this water out by sweating. (CRAZY!) Finally his pregnant wife made him lay down....he was really sick all that night but made it okay. The next morning I found out and I yelled at him that he seriously could have died, but he didn't believe me.

LARRY 2-06-2008 @ 10:27AM

I ate 7 whoppers once and thought my stomach was going to burst.

TK 2-06-2008 @ 9:11AM

What the article doesn't say, is how much water is toxic so people don't accidentally do this to themselves.

Kim 2-06-2008 @ 9:20AM

There was a young girl from our old neighbourhood in Colorado took X... she drank water till she drown her body. It was the first time I had heard of anything like that happening. The girls mother was home and knew the kids were giving her the X for a 16th birthday gift.. she let them and she let them drink beer and other alcholic beverages.. Then after the Tragic death of her daughter due in part to her neglegence she wanted the town to give her $$ to run a teen drop in center in the name of her daughter! She didn't get it! thankfully

ann 2-06-2008 @ 9:31AM

What does the buger joint comment have anything to do with the water intoxication? Wow! everything is a joke to some people. This is a terrible thing and I keep hearing of it happening more and more I agree with the comment of the person who said we need to know how much water is going to cause this to happen to us.

Lee 2-06-2008 @ 12:22PM

Actually, this is one of the reasons that Ecstacy can cause death. It can cause a perceived unquenchable thirst and the person will drink so much water that it puts their body into electrolyte imbalance causing cardiovascular problems then death.

Natosha 2-06-2008 @ 9:53AM

this is not the first time this has happened. it happened in my city to a woman who was in a contest to win a wii, when it first came out..it was called hold your wee for a wii..it was caused because you had to drink water and drink water..and not pee. who ever made it the longest without peeing won. the sad part is, docs and nurses called the radio station warning the producers that this could happen..sad part is the dj's were caught on tape telling the docs, that well they signed a waver so if something happens we are not liable! besides who ever heard of water poisoning?! so instead of warning the contestants they just let them go at it..handing out bottle of water after bottle of water, the woman did win. she eventually got a bad headache, went home, and died. yeah her kids got the wii but lost their mother, and because she did sign a waver, there was nothing that could be done about it,dispite the warnings docs gave to stop the contest.

fantm71 2-06-2008 @ 9:53AM

It's two gallons a day or more--to answer the question, "How much is too much water?"

Natosha 2-06-2008 @ 9:55AM

its not that its too much..the reason its linked to marathon winners and what its cause you cant go to the bathroom..I believe you can have a good bit of water. considering im pg and expected to drink at least a gallon of water, on top of juice and tea and milk and what ever else I want to drink...so long as I go to the bathroom

Leah 2-06-2008 @ 10:12AM

Jim and Hugh Jorgen: You are sick and it scares me to think that there are actually people who think like you in this world. Can't you keep your inane comments to yourself and feel a little compassion for this guy's family?

kitty 2-06-2008 @ 10:33AM

The number of oz of water is not necessarily the key. How MUCH in a span of time is also important to note. Someone may drink less than "2 gallons" in a day and die. If you drink MORE than you feel thirst for, then you drink about 5 times more than that...you could hurt yourself. It is NOT an easy thing to do. You really have to force yourself.

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