The Coming Storm: Why Water Will Write the 21st Century by Liam Fox

Author:Liam Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Published: 2024-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE, WRONG PLACE

How long human beings can live without water has long been a subject of debate, but there is a consensus that three to five days is the maximum that we can survive with no source of water at all.

In April 1979, however, an eighteen-year-old bricklayer called Andreas Mihavecz from Bregenz in Austria was taken into police custody by mistake following a car accident. Unfortunately for him, each of the policemen who were supposed to supervise him either 182forgot about him or thought that the others had already released him. As a result, poor Andreas was left in his cell for eighteen days and only survived by ingesting condensed water from the walls, losing 53 pounds (43 kg) in weight before the appalling mistake was discovered and he was freed. Amazingly, he was awarded only 250,000 Austrian schillings (around $23,000) in compensation although he enjoyed the minor reward of making it to The Guinness Book of Records.

Of course, just as too little water can be deadly, so can too much. Water intoxication is a condition which arises when the levels of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes become too depleted and cause potentially fatal disturbances in brain function.

This has become a high-profile issue in recent years because of the use of the drug MDMA (Ecstasy) particularly by young people in nightclubs. Ecstasy has two simultaneously damaging effects. It causes low sodium levels to occur because inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) combines with excessive fluid ingestion due to inappropriately increased thirst and creates a double diluting effect. In more severe cases, initial vomiting and disturbed behaviour can be followed by seizures and even death. In milder cases, drowsiness and disorientation have been observed in users for up to three days.

Young children (particularly those under nine months) are especially vulnerable to water toxicity as it is easy for them to take in a large amount of water relative to their small body mass and the total sodium stores in their bodies.

Excessive water intake can also occur in certain psychiatric states. Primary polydipsia (PPD) is a condition that results in the patient drinking an excessive amount of fluid in the absence of the normal physiological stimuli which cause us to drink. It tends to be found 183most often in schizophrenia, but it also occurs in anxiety disorders and, more rarely, conditions such as anorexia nervosa and personality disorders. Some studies have suggested that PPD occurs in 6 to 20 per cent of hospital psychiatric patients.

A more commonly encountered problem occurs among long-distance runners who might be susceptible to water intoxication if they consume too much while they are running because of their sodium levels dropping too low. Drinking isotonic fluids has become the main way in which this problem can be avoided.

Even if we have the correct amount of water in our bodies, clinical difficulties can still arise if it is in the wrong place.

Oedema is the accumulation of excess water in the tissues, most frequently in the extremities.

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