News. Woman dies of water intoxication AAP 15.01.07

[MazDan]

A timely reminder to everyone of just how dangerous this is. I am amazed that the silly radio station would do this.

Guess the marketing people never used mdma.




http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=176843

US woman dies of water intoxication
Sunday Jan 14 13:48 AEDT

AP - A 28-year-old woman has died of water intoxication after taking part in a Californian radio station's water drinking contest.

She was in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" competition trying to win a Nintendo Wii video game system.

Assistant Sacramento County Coroner Ed Smith said a preliminary investigation found evidence "consistent with a water intoxication death".

Jennifer Strange's mother found her daughter's body at her home on Friday in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, California, after Strange called her supervisor at her job to say she was heading home in terrible pain.

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"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."

Earlier Friday, Strange took part in a contest at radio station KDND 107.9 in which participants competed to see how much water they could drink without going to the toilet.

Initially, contestants were handed 220mL bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes.

"They were small little half-pint bottles, so we thought it was going to be easy," said fellow contestant James Ybarra of Woodland, California.

"They told us if you don't feel like you can do this, don't put your health at risk."

Ybarra said he quit after drinking five bottles.

"My bladder couldn't handle it anymore," he added.

After he quit, he said, the remaining contestants, including Strange, were given even bigger bottles to drink.

"I was talking to her and she was a nice lady," Ybarra said. "She was telling me about her family and her three kids and how she was doing it for kids."

John Geary, vice president and marketing manager for Entercom Sacramento, the station's owner, said station personnel were stunned when they heard of Strange's death.

"We are awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred," he said.

©AAP 2007

 

[Splatt]

How fucking stupid.

 

[person]

Pathetic, if I were her family id make sure thered be no radio station left and good compensation. Obviously they dont know the complications of drinking too much water - eg flood your brains like a percentage of the mdma deaths.

 

[Fry-d-]

Thats just crazy.

 

[Strawberry_lovemuffin]

That's nuts. What a pack of dickheads.

Does anyone know (just out of curiosity) exactly what it is that causes mortality when you drink too much water? Dilution of body salts? Swelling of the brain?

 

[Splatt]

Both. Water can pass the blood brain barrier and H2O is extremely toxic to the brain. Although I didn't have time to check this out, so hope it's not a myth. Someone who knows more on this subject might want to correct me.

 

[hoptis]

Dilutional hyponatraemia (also called water intoxication) occurs when an individual ingests excessive amounts of water, leading to a drop in blood sodium levels. This can lead to water entering brain cells under osmotic pressure(1). This makes the brain swell inside the skull (cerebral oedema) (4), which puts pressure on the brain stem. This can cause brain damage, seizures(4), paralysis, respiratory arrest, coma(4) and death.

We have a Water Intoxication/Hyponatremia FAQ!

 

[phase_dancer]

Thanks hoptis. I guess this also show that it's pretty common for people to be uninformed about water intoxication. As I said when this subject recently came up again, that FAQ by babydoc is gold

If the idea that too much water can kill you is difficult to understand, try looking at a typical osmosis demonstration using a U shaped tube and a semi-permeable membrane placed in the centre of the U. One side of the tube, say the left, can be thought of as the area outside your cell and the right, the inner cell region.

Without salt being present, levels of the water in the U tube will be the same each side of the membrane i.e. level (the membrane allows water to pass but not salt). If you then introduce salt (or other solute) to only one side of the U tube, say the right side, water will pass from the unsalty side to the salty side, and the levels will no longer be even (level) i.e. the salty side will contain more water.

This is what happens to cells during hyponatremia. From drinking too much water, or drinking moderately but not being able to urinate, the salt level can become higher inside the cell than the watery area surrounding the cell. The result is that water then enters the cell, causing swelling and eventually (if the condition is bad enough) rupturing of the cell (termed edema).

The Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB) permits for changes in body sodium levels without corresponding changes in brain salinity. However, this condition also produces the most danger as water will then pass from the body to the brain, causing swelling and often death.

The importance of maintaining electrolyte levels cannot be over emphasised, particularly with someone who is consistently vomiting. Experience with intervention work indicates that isotonic (sports) drinks can often reduce vomiting. However, its important that isotonic drinks are not consumed in excess as some drinks contain high levels of potassium which can cause heart complications. One isotonic drink/ 3-4 hour followed by Babydoc_Vic's suggestion of adding small amounts of salt to drinking water is the way to go.

For a more thorough understanding of osmosis see link


What is Osmosis? Explanation and Understanding of a Physical Phenomenon

 

[MazDan]

Thanks for that info lads.

 

[basix]

man 99% of the population I bet has no idea that you can die from water intoxication, Its a sad thing to happen but I dont blame the radio station, I dont blame the woman, its just an unfortunate accident.

us people on bluelight only know its dangerous because we've looked for information on mdma and we came across it. Its an obscure and extremely rare cause of death, Im sure theres other things like it that we dont know about.

As for suing the radio station, thats ridiculous IMO, the woman did it of her own free will, she had every oppurtunity to research the risks, and did it anyway. She made her decision and should be accountable for it.

 

[person]

I hear what your saying, but whats lacking in the US is the policy guidelines for radio stations. Its like letting a 3 year old child roam around a swimming pool with no supervision, there needs to be a balance somewhere, but yeah water intoxication is definately obscure.

 

[phase_dancer]

They're (the radio station) responsible alright. Since when is ignorance been a reasonable defence in such situations? The station should have done its research. Even the idea of having contestants resist the urge to urinate should have rang some alarm bells.

Here's the message currently on their front page (KDND 107.9 The End):

All of you are probably aware of the tragic death of a contestant, Jennifer Strange, following her participation in a contest on the Morning Rave last Friday.

First and foremost, our thoughts and sympathies go out to Jennifer's family and loved ones.

I also want to assure you that the circumstances regarding this matter are being examined as thoroughly as possible. We are doing everything we can to deal with this difficult situation in a manner that is both respectful and responsible. In the interim, the Morning Rave is off the air indefinitely.

Thank you.

John Geary
Vice-President & General Manager
107.9 THE END

KDND 107.9
Use of "The End" in their catch-cry has certainly turned out to be a bad choice of words.

 

[DoctorShop]

Isn't it interesting that as drug users, we probably wouldn't have participated - or participated more sensibly - due to our knowledge of mdma. Yet the general pubic are apparently, quite unaware that water intoxication can kill you.

And they keep coming after us?

 

[Strawberry_lovemuffin]

They're (the radio station) responsible alright. Since when is ignorance been a reasonable defence in such situations? The station should have done its research.

Absolutely agree. As a marketer it's absolutely ridiculous to blame anyone involved in stunts or participating in events for the outcome. They're caught up in the hype and trust the promoter implicitly.

Most companies cover their ass thouroughly, either by researching the risks and explaining them with appropriate waiivers to the contestants; or not going through with dangerous shit like this at all. Because no-one wants to be caught in a bad-PR (sorry, irreversibly-fatal PR) situation like this. It's a worst nightmare scenario.

Someone or some people at that station are losing their jobs quick smart; I wouldn't be surprised if it's the whole staff seeing as this stupid contest obviously went to air without anyone objecting. If the whole station never recovers from this event I wouldn't be surprised and so it shouldn't. It isn't this woman's fault at all.

 

[Splatt]

I just find it very weird it was actually promoted. I mean all competitions and games need to be checked over thoroughly by the company's lawyers, and I can't see how this got passed them.

 

[basix]

wow I just listened to the contest and several people called in before the contest started and told the radio dj's that its dangerous to drink so much water and that someone could die. The dj's responce was, "they signed waivers so we're not responsible."

http://www.sacbee.com/static/newsroom/kdndslides/

My opinions kinda changed on this after listening to the broadcast, the radio was made aware of the dangers, and continued to tell people that their body would throw up if they were in any danger.

 

[DoctorShop]

I must admit I'm not very knowledgable about waivers/contracts etc. But does that basically mean they're not responsible if people die? Is that similiar to what you sign when you go to hospital for an operation?

If so, then wow. Thats unreal. How could that possibly be considered ok?

 

[psybeebee]

They're (the radio station) responsible alright. Since when is ignorance been a reasonable defence in such situations? The station should have done its research. Even the idea of having contestants resist the urge to urinate should have rang some alarm bells.

I whole heartedly agree. Any responsible person at the radio station who had given this competition serious thought should have made sure that the activities did not place any significant strain on the contestants' bodies. It is not enough to tell the competitors that they are free to go if they feel they are under too much pressure. Firstly, they are determined to win this prize, and many contestants would have pushed themselves a little bit for it. Secondly, you can't always tell when your body isn't functioning healthily (not every problem produces a tangible symptom).

It was undoubtedly a very easy mistake to make on the behalf of the radio station, but a thoughtless and preventable one none the less.

 

[xcidium]

Someone or some people at that station are losing their jobs quick smart; I wouldn't be surprised if it's the whole staff seeing as this stupid contest obviously went to air without anyone objecting.

10 people at the station got the boot, including the three disc (cock) jockeys that organized the comp.

From here

 

[Sp0t]

Hopefully they get more than just the boot and we see some charges laid. It reminds me of that uk show where people had to stay awake for as long as they could, another stupid idea.

I can understand most people not knowing about water intoxication but the radio station should have done a little research on the dangers of drinking excessive water. How could they possibly think it was safe!