Dangerous Waters…
November 18, 2003
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Posted by Aubrey Turner
From the stupid human tricks department comes this story about a fraternity stunt gone wrong.
A 21-year-old student at Southern Methodist University remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday after chugging water in an off-campus competition with fraternity members.
Braylon Curry, a pledge with Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, drank an unknown amount of water from a gallon container early Saturday morning and was hospitalized hours later after becoming dazed and incoherent, Dallas police said.
I never knew that drinking too much water could be bad for you.
Excessive consumption of water can be fatal, causing pulmonary edema, a condition in which water enters the lungs, and hyponatremia, a sodium imbalance brought on by excess fluid consumption.
The average person can consume up to 15 liters of water in a 24-hour period, but drinking too much too quickly can swell brain cells and cause head pressure, said Dr. Greg Blomquist, an emergency room doctor at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.
I guess you learn something new every day. However, in retrospect, the idea of a contest to see how much water you can drink does seem a bit silly.
Categories: What the heck?
Hmm, I thought the only malady that could result was a distended stomach. Interesting.
But, only one gallon? I’ve had more water than that in one sitting after a heavy morning shooting baskets in the summer. Odd.
I didn’t participate in it, but the drama club in high school used to have “water parties.”
Well, news reports often don’t get all the details right. Perhaps the gallon container was refilled or there were more than one of them. Like you, I’ve had quite a bit of water at one time before, but I wasn’t chugging it like they were. I suspect that our bodies wouldn’t normally let us drink too much water—someone would have to ignore the body’s feedback to do something like this.