Another day, and it seems, another common practice for your health that is now being questioned.
It has always been advised by doctors that if you are unwell to drink more water and keep those fluids up. Now, thanks to new research, it shows that you can be too hydrated and it can do some harm.
A study into a woman’s health in the UK after the 60-year-old was told to drink plenty of water because of a urinary tract infection. The woman drank several litres every day and admitted herself to the hospital when the UTI got worse. While in the hospital she started to shake, have speech difficulties, and struggled to keep her attention. Tests showed that she was generally healthy, and the doctors feared stroke, but it was a blood test that showed hyponatremia.
Hyponatremia is essentially dangerously low sodium levels. The woman had drunk so much water that she was suffering from water intoxication. After the doctors had limited her water, she began to get better after 24 hours.
While it usually needs another ailment to trigger this condition, as a low renal function, it could be a problem. Some illnesses can restrict the body’s natural alarm that says it’s fully hydrated and can even increase thirst.
The cases of hyponatremia are rare, but increasing with the advice to drink more and more water from either diets or health fads. The experts agree that up to 2 litres a day is more than enough.