By Janet Adeyemo

What comes to your mind when you hear “Poison”…?

Poison refers to a substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.

Can water be poisonous?

Water is life at the right time and could be poisonous when taken too much.

The human kidney filter excess waste and water from the blood stream. The kidney can only process 800 to 1000 milliliters of water an hour. If you manage to take more than that without throwing up,  you could be in serious trouble because you are taking in water faster than your kidney can process.

The excess water goes into the cell. Normally, the cell is surrounded  by a balanced solution of sodium and water which flows in and out through tiny holes in the cellular membrane.

Too much of water, makes the sodium solution diluted, not salty enough. When this happens, excess water rushes into the cell to restore balance. Medical Doctors call this “Water Intoxication”.

Most cells can handle the sweeping to a degree but the cell in the brain cannot  because the skull is not soft and flexible, it is bone.

As the brain swells, it builds pressure in the head. At this point, the victim may experience headache,  coma or some form of confusion. In less than 10 hours, the victim could cross to the other side of the world, death.

It is important to note that marathon runners need to be careful as study show that one in six marathon runners experience mild water intoxication because of the race stresses their body including kidney, so they do not excrete water efficiently which can cause water to back up into the blood more easily.

The joy is knowing that several water intoxication is rare, but do note that persons with kidney malfunction may be reliable to this.

Water is life, water is important….

Drink sufficient water to give you life, avoid excess intake of water.