"Drinking too much water can lead to a condition known as water intoxication and to a related problem resulting from the dilution of sodium in the body, hyponatremia."

I recently attended a seminar where the female speaker informed us that to beat work stress, we should drink a lot of water... and some health nut she knew said that we should be drinking as many ounces a day as we have pounds in our weight! I still agree with some of the new research that suggests that we should drink when we're thirsty. A little upping of our water intake is fine, but I've never believed all of the hype that says you practically need an IV of water going into you at all times. I seem to remember some female runner collapsing at a run due to hyponatremia.

Snopes agress with you : http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

CC, I know you have a reputation to uphold but do you need to reach this far to be callous? If death was an expected result of drinking a lot of water, marathons would be pretty horrific events, don't you think? We're taught since we're little kids that it's important to drink lots of water but we only hear about dying from it in urban legends, if at all, and you think she should've known better? Hell, most people I know would enter a drinking contest to see who could drink the most vodka for a Wii.

Seriously. What a horrible way to lose a parent... trying to do something lighthearted and 'fun' to get your kids a toy.

It's totally not urban legend. Those of us who do long distance cycling, running, etc. are very familiar with this because we're warned about it a lot, actually. My wife in particular. She's done 2 Half-Ironman triathlons, is training to do the Ironman and has done numerous smaller races. And in all her time training she's definitely focused a decent amount of her time on trying to make sure that she was getting the proper electrolyte water balance so she doesn't suffer from dehydration or hyponatraemia. People do die from that, indeed. Although it's usually in a situation where they loose an excess of sodium and then replace it with purely sodium-free water.

I simply don't have sympathy for those who kill themselves stupidly. She's yet another candidate for the Darwin Awards.

Most marathon runners are smart enough to keep their electrolyte levels up. This woman was in so much pain that she was crying, yet she chose to go home instead of to a hospital.

We're also taught since childhood that moderation is best because too much of anything can injure or kill.

Would you feel equally sorry for them if they died of alcohol poisoning?

"I'll eat when I'm hungry.
I'll drink when I'm dry,
And if moonshine don't kill me,
I'll live 'til I die."

Nope, it makes women more attractive to you.

QS, if someone you actually cared about would have died this way, would you be saying the same?

This is definitely something that happens, though not too often. In August 2005, a Maryland Police Officer died while training to use a bicycle on his patrol. He drank ~3 gallons of water during a 12 mile training ride on a very hot day.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/10/AR200508...

I don't think we're taught or conditioned to recognize over-hydration as an issue. Rather, the opposite seems to be true, the drink 8-10 glasses per day or whenever you feel thirsty theory. I assume that nobody involved in the contest recognized that there was a serious health risk to this.

Tragic.

Unnecessary - Certis

I would have thought the body would have some kind of survival method that would keep you from being able to do this like say puking or something.

I saw this on cnn and was shocked cause I never gave it much thought that you could die this way. There were times in basic training where the drill sgts made us drink several canteens of water till someone puked. I never puked, but it did make me sick with a horrible headache.

Sad way to die, especially when see was doing it for the kids. She didn't even win...

"Thanks Shipwreck, now we know!"
"And knowing is half the battle!"

Can I get in on some of that?

Well, heck. If I get to count coffee then I'm going to be influenced by the next tide.

Seriously, though. Doesn't the diuretic effects from coffee and tea come into play a bit, too?