DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER CAN BE FATAL TO ATHLETES
The recent deaths of two high school football
players illustrate the dangers of drinking too much water and sports drinks,
according to Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine physician Dr.
James Winger.
Over-hydration by
athletes is called exercise-associated hyponatremia. It occurs when athletes
drink even when they are not thirsty. Drinking too much during exercise can
overwhelm the body's ability to remove water. The sodium content of blood is
diluted to abnormally low levels. Cells absorb excess water, which can cause
swelling -- most dangerously in the brain.
Hyponatremia can cause
muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, seizures, unconsciousness, and, in rare cases,
death.
Georgia football
player Zyrees Oliver reportedly drank 2 gallons of water and 2 gallons of a
sports drink. He collapsed at home after football practice, and died later at a
hospital. In Mississippi, Walker Wilbank was taken to the hospital during the
second half of a game after vomiting and complaining of a leg cramp. He had a
seizure in the emergency room and later died. A doctor confirmed he had
exercise-associated hyponatremia.
And in recent years,
there have been more than a dozen documented and suspected runners' deaths from
hyponatremia.
Winger said it's
common for coaches to encourage athletes to drink profusely, before they get
thirsty. But he noted that expert guidelines recommend athletes drink only when
thirsty. Winger said athletes should not drink a predetermined amount, or try
to get ahead of their thirst.
Drinking only when
thirsty can cause mild dehydration. "However, the risks associated with
dehydration are small," Winger said. "No one has died on sports
fields from dehydration, and the adverse effects of mild dehydration are questionable.
But athletes, on rare occasions, have died from over-hydration."
Winger is co-author of
a 2011 study that found that nearly half of Chicago-area recreational runners
surveyed may be drinking too much fluid during races. Winger and colleagues
found that, contrary to expert guidelines, 36.5 percent of runners drink
according to a present schedule or to maintain a certain body weight and 8.9
percent drink as much as possible.
"Many athletes
hold unscientific views regarding the benefits of different hydration
practices," Winger and colleagues concluded. Their study was published in
the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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