Woman dies from drinking too much water.

Source/Link:
www.msnbc.msn.com...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A woman who competed in a radio station’s contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom died of water intoxication, the coroner’s office said Saturday.

Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner.

“She said to one of our supervisors that she was on her way home and her head was hurting her real bad,” said Laura Rios, one of Strange’s co-workers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento. “She was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her.”

I'm familiar with another story concerning someone dying from drinking too much water. In another case it was a military recruit in the United States Air Force who collapsed and died during "basic training". It was a few years back (prior 2002, i believe).

At any rate, this is not the first time i've heard of someone who died due to drinking too much water.

I thought i would share the article. There is more to read, but i opted to only include the first few paragraphs from the link.

Yes, you can die from too much water or too little salt. When I was working the flight line in Pensacola, summer conditions were pretty extreme. Combine temperatures in the high 90s, with the reflection from the blacktop, aircraft exhaust, and very little breeze. The Navy provided not only Gatorade or water, but also salt tabs.

They call it WATER INTOXICATION or more technically HYPONATREMIA. It happens when the body’s balance of salt and water become quickly diluted. It affects the production of nerve impulses, and impairs mental processes. Cells take on extra water and expand. As they swell, they put stress on the body’s organs, particularly the brain, which has little room to expand within the skull. Sometimes Hyponatremia is caused by an underlying medical condition.
Hyponatremia isn’t unique to the military. Indeed, marathon runners, tri-athletes, even high-desert hikers all can succumb. “Most people aren’t aware of the risk of drinking too much water,” said Bob Murray, director of Gatorade Sports Science Institute. Sport drinks are engineered to replace both salt and fluids depleted during exercise. Drinking sports drinks can help; but it alone can’t maintain adequate sodium levels for people engaging in rigorous, endurance–level activity.
The point is you need to replenish not only the fluids you lose when you sweat, but the salt as well. Nothing that comes out of your body is pure water. So you’ve got to replace it with both the salt and water, Not Just Water.
Water Intoxication typically occurs over 4 to 6 hours or more. It attacks participants in High–Endurance events, such as marathons, long road marches and triathlons in which participants swim, bicycle and run long distances in non–stop succession.
Source

Dihydrogen oxide claims another victim...nasty chemical..hehe, couldn't resist =P

Originally posted by bsl4doc
Dihydrogen oxide claims another victim...nasty chemical..hehe, couldn't resist =P

I wonder if the radio station made a public safety announcement before hand saying "Don't try this at home"???

At any rate bsl4doc. I like your avatar! I might steel it for myself in a few months, if its ok with you?

Originally posted by Esoteric Teacher
At any rate bsl4doc. I like your avatar! I might steel it for myself in a few months, if its ok with you?

Go for it =)

Dihydrogen oxide claims another victim...nasty chemical..hehe, couldn't resist =P

Beat me to it. LOL, there's a whole website about the dangers of Dihydrogen Oxide...and Penn and Teller did an episode of BullS&&T, very very funny.

Good way to rile some folks up - just start talking about Dihydrogen Oxide...see what happens. LOL!


Regards~
Aimless

I happened upon another thread discussing gaming enthusiasts perspective as well as possible legal actions here:

www.belowtopsecret.com...

Although the threads discuss the same event, this thread was more or less focussed around the medical aspects of it only.

thanks,
john

I saw this story on the news the yesterday.

It seems the cause of death was the fact that her brain cells absorbed so much water they could no longer expand due to the skull.

Supposedly the leading cause of death was the pressure exerted upon the brain cells from both the absorbtion of water and the inside of her skull.

She was complaining of a severe headache when she left the radio station, or at least that is what has been reported on by FOXNEWS.

Thanks,
john

Originally posted by bsl4doc
Dihydrogen oxide claims another victim...nasty chemical..hehe, couldn't resist =P

Is that really necessary?
Did you miss that she was a 28 yr old woman trying to win a game console for her 3 children who are now motherless.

very classy of you...

Originally posted by DDay

Originally posted by bsl4doc
Dihydrogen oxide claims another victim...nasty chemical..hehe, couldn't resist =P

Is that really necessary?
Did you miss that she was a 28 yr old woman trying to win a game console for her 3 children who are now motherless.

very classy of you...

Easy now. I understand your empathy for the young woman. However some people who feel events may be outside their realm of control may indeed draw upon humor to help them cope with a tragic situation. Humor has often been a vice i've used to try to keep things in a perspective i can handle and deal with, especially when the situation is something i can not control.

bsl4doc was merely injecting humor into the conversation, that's all.

I'm sure bsl4doc did not mean to offend anyone, nor was it their intentions to do so.

[edit on 15-1-2007 by Esoteric Teacher]

Tragic as it is, her kids will end up well off. The radio station was clearly negligent and put the contestants in a situation that was quite unhealthy. The risk is well known in the medical comunity and they failed to take it into account. They did not provide a safe situation. They could have mandated salt intake or switched to gatorade, etc. They could have had medical supervision. They acted irresponsibly and took advantage of the shortage of a video game system to hype their radio station. Heads will roll. People will lose their jobs, and the kids who lost their mother will get a well funded trust fund. personaly I think the major idiot who ran the contest should be held responsable for these kids for the rest of their lives.

[Easy now. I understand your empathy for the young woman.

You're right! I was just looking at it from a mom perspective and how those poor kids feel knowing their mother died trying for them.

There have been 2 major breakthroughs in this story.

1) EVERYONE employed at the radio station that knew anything about the contest has been fired.

2) THEY WERE FORWARNED!!!! A Registered Nurse called them prior to the beginning of the contest and TOLD THEM that there contest could result in a fatality.

[edit on 17-1-2007 by Esoteric Teacher]

Originally posted by Esoteric Teacher
There have been 2 major breakthroughs in this story.

1) EVERYONE employed at the radio station that knew anything about the contest has been fired.

2) THEY WERE FORWARNED!!!! A Registered Nurse called them prior to the beginning of the contest and TOLD THEM that there contest could result in a fatal.

Now this is total stupidity, why would they continue with the contest when they were forwarned?

I would say the lawsuit is going be a really large one, but I couldn't image losing a loved this way.

Sad

Originally posted by Realtruth

Now this is total stupidity, why would they continue with the contest when they were forwarned?

Hard to tell what they were thinking while ignoring her advice. The way they presented the information on the news they make it seem as though the contestants themselves were preparing to participate and they also laughed off the claims made by the caller who was claiming to be a nurse.

So, perhaps, if i'm understanding the reports correctly, the contestants also were made aware of the risks, they just obviously may not have believed the caller who was claiming to be a nurse.

Incidently, i also heard the victim did not win, but came in second place???

Is this information true?? I didn't hear the last part from the news, rather just from workplace "gossip".

Sounds to me that her kids could OWN the radio station if they wanted to. This is a clear cut case of negligence. They are firing people to help mitigate the damage but it is too little too late.

I had heard about the warnings. The story I read said that not only the nurse but others called to warn them. It was laughed off... on air!

It seems like a lot of the shows compete to be an "extreme show"... louder, nastier, faster, etc. This is one of the tragic results of this kind of mindset. After hearing the jokes they made, I would frankly fire them AND sue them!

I heard the recordings on TV and they are extremely damning.

If that audio is played before any jury in either a civil or criminal case, the radio station will be bankrupt and the deejays in jail.

Originally posted by djohnsto77

If that audio is played before any jury in either a civil or criminal case, the radio station will be bankrupt and the deejays in jail.

Aren't radio stations usually owned by the same company/owners?

For instance, here in Las Vegas I know the country station (95.5), the 80s station (102.7), a spanish channel, a news talk station, and a heavy medal station are all owned by the same people. Hence the phrase "sister station and/or sister channel".

(slightly off topic ...)
I personally do not like it, since it is now almost impossible to turn to another station while the commercials are playing. It doesn't matter anymore, they play their commercials all at the same time. So even when i do have 6 channels pre-programmed into the car radio, they are all playing commercials at the same times.

Well, here is what the lady's family is doing:

Family sues Calif. radio station after woman dies
Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:52am ET


SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - The family of a California woman who died after participating in a radio station's water-drinking contest will sue the station, their lawyer said on Thursday.

Jennifer Strange, 28, a mother of three, died from suspected water intoxication after taking part in Friday's competition, "Hold your wee for a Wii." About 20 people tried to out-drink each other without going to the toilet to win a Nintendo Wii game console.

Family Sues