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Recently, a sobering medical case has garnered a lot of attention on social media. Soon after, she developed symptoms of dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, and was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with water poisoning, medically known as hyponatremia.
After treatment, the woman gradually returned to normal, but this incident reminds us that even simple drinking water needs to be done with caution.
Water intoxication, or hyponatremia, is an abnormally low concentration of sodium ions in the body, resulting in impaired cell function and, in severe cases, potentially life-threatening.
Sodium ions in the human body are mainly responsible for regulating the osmotic pressure of blood and body fluids and maintaining normal nerve and muscle function. When sodium ions are diluted in the body due to excessive water intake, water can enter the body cells from the bloodstream, causing the cells to overswell, causing headaches, nausea, vomiting, and neuropsychiatric abnormalities.
In extreme cases, excessive cell swelling can even lead to brain swelling, leading to seizures, coma, and even death.
For adults, the ideal daily water intake should be adjusted based on the individual's weight, activity intensity, and environmental conditions. The general recommended water intake is between 1 ml and 30 ml per kilogram of body weight, for example, a 70 kg adult should drink between 2.1 and 2.1 litres of water per day.
This standard will vary depending on the temperature, the amount of exercise and the health of the individual. People who work in a hot environment or do a lot of exercise have a corresponding increase in their water needs.
Patients with chronic diseases such as heart disease and kidney disease may need to adjust their water intake under the guidance of their doctor to prevent health problems caused by fluid balance disorders.
Water poisoning is uncommon, but understanding its prevention and early recognition is essential to protect your health. The key to preventing water poisoning is to balance water intake with electrolytes in the body.
In daily life, drinking large amounts of water in a short period of time should be avoided, especially if there is no excessive sweating. For example, long hours of desk work don't require frequent and heavy hydration.
When it comes to recognizing the early symptoms of water poisoning, such as unusual symptoms such as headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion or fatigue, reduce your water intake immediately and seek medical help. These symptoms may indicate a decrease in sodium concentration in the body and need to be evaluated and managed by a medical professional.
On the topic of healthy drinking water, there is a lot of misinformation in the market. Popular ideas such as "you must drink eight glasses of water a day" or "drinking plenty of water to help you detoxify" are often promoted but lack scientific evidence.
In fact, each person's water needs vary from person to person, with factors such as weight, ambient temperature, and activity intensity all contributing factors. Drinking too much water is not harmless, but can pose serious health risks such as water poisoning.
For the often misunderstood function of "detoxification", the kidneys are the body's main organs that regulate water and remove waste, and they are able to effectively process toxins and waste products in the body, as long as they maintain normal function, without the need for "forced" detoxification by drinking too much water.
We can see that proper drinking habits are essential for health. Understanding one's specific needs and putting into practice the principles of drinking water in daily life are basic health management skills that everyone should learn.