Submitted by tb200 t3_123c942 in askscience
I understand that drinking a large amount of water in a short amount of time can potentially lead to other issues caused by upsetting the balance of electrolytes in our body.
I'm more curious about the long term effects on our kidneys when drinking large amounts of water throughout the day. I'm assuming this results in our kidneys having to work harder than usual, so that makes me wonder how that impacts their long term health.
Yeah I already understand that part. See the first paragraph of my original post.
I'm more interested in knowing what the long term effects are in a person that drinks "more water than usual", but not enough in a short span of time to cause something like hyponatremia.
I’m a physician (hospitalist) and chronic volume overload will cause chronic hyponatremia, much less dangerous than acute hyponatremia but can be life threatening if access to water or ability to drink stops suddenly. Other problems could be swelling of the legs and even pulmonary edema.
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I have worked in mental hospitals, and have had issues with people becoming "water intoxicated" due to their psychosis. So despite what people tell you , you absolutely can drink too much water. Is it likely for a person not insane? No. But yeah....it can happen.
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It doesn't hurt your kidneys, but can give you heart attack and other similar. You can make it worse by drinking distilled water, as it will leach more minerals from your body.
If you're drinking anything around a normal amount of water, extra is actually a little good for your kidneys as it helps them flush out things and not work so hard
Others have commented on water toxicity, and I thought it would be interesting to share this link
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna16614865
This woman died from drinking so much water during a water drinking contest on a radio show. However, this was pretty extreme, she was chugging it back and it totally unreasonable rate. So I might not recommend for example trying to drink 12 gallons of water one day, because you might die. But unless you're drinking insanely crazy amounts, you're not at risk
However if you do find yourself continuously thirsty and drinking a lot more than seems normal, you might go see a doctor. Excessive thirst can be a side effect of poor kidney function or high blood sugar. Amongst other things.
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>Keith Richards is still alive... no, seriously, he is.
Yeah, and Bob Saget "went to bed, and bumped his head, and couldn't get up in the morning". The human body can be incredibly fragile when it wants to be...
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It certainly can. It is all about how you look at things.
Someone can be concerned about drinking too much water, which I drink about 1 1/2 gallons a day and have never thought of, or someone can be concerned about all the alcohol people drink, how overweight everyone is becoming, or a number of things.
People were very concerned about covid and I'm still more concerned about driving than I ever was of covid. We all have our thing.
That's a strange way to view risk assessment considering covid and driving aren't mutually exclusive. Covid became an ADDITIONAL risk on top of any other risks occurring in your life. Should I drive? Or walk? Or fly to my destination? Those risks are related and increasing one reduces the other.
If you are under 25, the risk of dying from Covid is less than that of dying in a car crash within the next year, and that's only if you catch it.
Right, but this still misses the point. There's a risk of dying in a car crash when you drive and there's a risk of dying in a bicycle accident if you decide to ride your bike instead, but you're only ever taking on one of those risks at any given time. One risk completly REPLACES the other, depending on the decision you make.
Covid however, is an ADDED risk in addition to every other decision you make daily. Sorry if I wasn't being clear.
You are correct in what you said. I just never really worried too much about covid. For me, driving is more concerning.
Yeah, bill gates and Mark Zuckerberg both dropped out of college and are a billionaires, so you should too.
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If you drink a bunch of water, make sure to watch your potassium level as it might drop via dilution. Potassium helps to lower kidney stones as well as being important for proper heart function. Bananas and lentils are good sources of potassium.
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Drinking a lot of water helps the kidney to filter blood easily. However too much water can simply dilute the nutrients, making you feel weak. Also, if someone has a serious heart condition, the excess water can put pressure on the heart, resulting in swelling. As long as your pee is light to pale yellow, you are fine. Creatinine test once or twice a year can help monitor kidney health.
Indulgent and excessive eating or drinking of anything is injurious to health.
Unbalance nutrition is injurious to health.
Total starvation or avoidance of critical foods is injurious to health.
Avoid fads and fashions, keep active, keep trim (not thin) and you will live happily.
No, assuming that you're not drinking enough to actually give you hypertension, it won't damage your kidneys. Your kidneys will filter the fluid it "sees" and as long as that fluid is coming through at a reasonable pressure, you're not really overloading the kidneys. The kidneys have immense reserve.
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