`Aquaholism', caused by water glut, can be deadly
It Can Bring About A
Condition Like Hyponatremia, Say Docs
Cynthia Ravi, with best of
intentions, guzzled at least six litres of wa ter every day . The lean, tall,
24-year-old techie never connected her frequent biobreaks to her `aquaholism'
recognised as a medical condition of addiction to water by doctors.
Nephrologists said that the nearly
30 trips she made to the restroom everyday were because her body was not able
to get rid of fluids through sweat and urine. They also told her that her
`giddiness' was because the surplus water diluted the sodium levels in her
body . “I realised I did not drink water because I needed it. I just liked
it,“ she said.
Nephrologist Dr Rajan Ravichandran
says not many of his patients are as lucky as Cynthia to discover their
condition early. With every summer, there is a rapid increase in the number
of people coming in with serious complications. Many continue to drink water
even when their sodium levels are at rock bottom. Osmosis then takes water
from the blood into body cells to equalise sodium levels. Soon, the cells
swell a condition called hyponatremia, or water toxication. In some
patients the cells in the brain get bloated, leading to coma and death. In
some patients, this can causes kidney failure because the kidney stops
filtering blood. “I call such people aquaholics,“ said Dr Ravichandran.
Vijaya Kalyan, a 49-year-old
businesswoman, developed acute renal failure which warranted daily home
dialysis for nearly eight months. “I had a kidney problem that would have
been cured in less than a month with medication. But people told me drinking
several litres of water will help. It only made it worse,“ said Kalyan.
Organisations like WHO recommend
between 1.5 and 2 litres of water a day for a 60kg adult. Thirst, doctors say
, is a reliable indicator of how much one should drink. The best advice is to
use common sense don't drink if you are not thirsty .
Till recently , hyponatremia was
associated with sportsmen, who tend to sweat little but drink profusely .
These days, doctors see it among people who drink water copiously to reduce
weight or to keep themselves hydrat ed. “It happens every time people read a
news story on water therapy. The con sequences are catastroph ic. Every case
is preventa ble,“ said Dr Ravichandran.
The problem is not unique to
adults. Last week, paediatric nephrologist N Prahlad saw an eightyear-old,
whose parents brought her to the hospital after her teachers told them of her
frequent visits to the restroom. The third-grader was making at least 30
trips to the toilet. Parents told him that she drank less than one litre of
water a day .“After I asked them to make a note of every feed and measure her
urine output at home, we found that she was having more than two litres of
water besides milk and other fluids in her diet,“ Dr Prahlad said. A `water
deprivation' diet showed improved results in just the first six hours.“
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Pushpa Narayan
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TOI 21MAR16
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