Woman dies of 'water intoxication' after radio contest
A preliminary autopsy states that a woman died of "water intoxication" following a water drinking contest for a Nintendo Wii. News10 in Sacramento reports Station 107.9 The End's "Hold your wee for a Wii" contest had contestants doing exactly what the title says. The winner was the person who didn't release their bladder the longest. According to the woman's co-worker, after the contest, "She said to one of our supervisors that she was on her way home and her head was hurting her real bad ... she was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her." The co-workers contacted the woman's mother later on to check up how she was doing and she discovered the body. No word yet on how much water the woman consumed.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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All the jokes aside, condolences to the family. The radio station could've known that drinking too much water in a small period of time could kill you, I hope they get sued.
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Dying for the Wii? Killing for the PS3? Some random incident involving a 360?
It seems like the consoles are out there to make sure mankind is extinct.
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So off, it's hyperhydration.
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130 comics later the joke has become a reality.
comic I refer to link:
http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?cid=1
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Severe hyponatremia may cause osmotic shift of water from the plasma into the brain cells. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache and malaise. As the hyponatremia worsens, confusion, diminished reflexes, convulsions, stupor or coma may occur. Since nausea is, itself, a stimulus for the release of ADH (the water retaining hormone), the potential for a vicious circle of hyponatremia and its symptoms exists.
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The woman probably should have went to see a doctor, but I know whenever I have a headache, I wouldn't worry about it too much to go see someone about it.
It's a tragic death, and I hope the family can come through this in the best way possible. I feel very bad for them...
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@9 ...this from someone with -1 star? i'm betting you're french/canadian. retard.
@5 ...my own thoughts on the issue more or less
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didn't die though, didnt get a headache either, just stomach ache. Never drank that much water again.
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your even worse than Shimbre since you're both racist and a hypocrite
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
I find it very sad that the first instinct for most gamers is to either make jokes or wish death upon other people. It makes me think that there's some truth to the theory that videogames make people less concerned with the lives of others. Death is serious - to make jokes about the death of someone that you never knew is extremely disrespectful. Show some fucking dignity, even if the death was stupid, senseless, and self-inflicted.
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So off, it's hyperhydration."
Actually you're both right. According to Wikipedia:
"Hyperhydration is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain function that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by a very rapid intake of water."
"Hyponatremia is an electrolyte disturbance that exists in humans when the sodium level in the plasma falls below 135 mmol/l. At lower levels water intoxication may result, an urgently dangerous condition."
Regardless, this is not something to be calling that woman an idiot for, or nor should this story fuel arguments for or against the Wii. The way some of you guys are treating this only supports the claims of people like Jack Thompson that gamers are heartless and desensitized.
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Anyone who didn't realize you could die from too much water... I weep for you. If you can't realize that absolutely anything can kill you and the only thing that differs is amount, what does that say about how much you think about something when someone tells you 'this is good for you' or 'this is bad for you'?
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It's called dieing for the better of mankind. From the sounds of it she doesn't have any kids or husband so she died so her dumbass genes wouldn't spread out throughout the country. It's a good day for mankind.
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Yes. That's it. You're right.
Only gamers find things like The Darwin Awards funny. In fact, the Darwin Awards Books, which are exclusively stories of stupid people dying in stupid ways, have hit the NY Times Best Seller's List by being purchased exclusively by gamers.
Furthermore, when Steve Irwin died, only gamers were making jokes. Same with Cory Lidle.
It isn't that death is often absurd and ironic, and therefore very funny, it's that gamers laugh at this and the rest of the populace cringes.
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(That is, if you (Revo and alexanderwales) were referring to me)
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Potomania (Dipsomania) is the intense desire for alcohol in excess. This is considered a dated term for "alcoholic".
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20051
Psychogenic polydipsia is the psychological condition of wanting (and consuming) excess water. Polydipsia is the term for what this woman did: abnormal intake of fluid through the mouth (as opposed to through an IV).
Water intoxication (AKA: hyperhydration, water poisoning) happens most often in:
a) the military
b) endurance sports (especially marathons)
c) recreational drug use
d) mental patients
In the first three cases, water loss is being overcompensated for with excess water consumption. In the last case, it is either a mental condition, or hyponatremia (AKA: hyponatraemia) is caused by a specific medication.
Hyponatremia itself is caused by the imbalance of electrolytes (notably sodium compounds) in the body. You are thus at a greater risk for hyponatermia is you are on a low sodium diet. Symptoms are very similar to dehydration, which means that a mis-diagnosis can be harmful or fatal. The notable difference in symptoms is that hyponatremia will often cause watery diarrhea or vomiting.
More links:
http://www.wemjournal.org/wmsonline/?request=get-document&issn=1080-6032&volume=016&issue=04&page=0221
http://www.alpharubicon.com/med/watertox.html
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Once something hits the internet, expect to find the whole range of human reaction - empathy, apathy, sympathy, ignorance, lack of compassion, lots of compassion, etc. Thats how people are - wether gamers or not. Thats just how people are.
The radio station shouldn't have done this contest without warnings in place. The details are unclear - did they want people to drink lots of water AND hold their urine? If so, if they didnt specify how much water to drink, thats dangerous. If they didn't warn you not to participate if you have certain diseases (CRF, CHF, etc) thats dangerous. Even if they didnt encourage drinking water and just wanted you to hold your urine - that could case hydronephrosis and damaged kidneys. There is a limit to how long one should retain urine. 6 hours is the max you should ever allow a person to retain urine.
This has no bearing on the Wii. They could easily have used any other item as the prize and the dangers of such a contest would remain the same.
The term you use doesn't matter - hyperhydration or hyponatremia - the end result is the same: Electrolyte abnormality that lead to diffuse edema of the brain and subsequent herniation (uncal, tonsillar, subfalcine, etc) which lead to respiratory depression (you stop breathing) and eventual death due to hypoxia (lack of oxygen). So the term you use could be hyperhydration, hyponatremia, uncal herniation, hypoxia, respiratory depression, etc. Depends on what part of the process you want to highlight.
-visit my blog.
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Only gamers find things like The Darwin Awards funny. In fact, the Darwin Awards Books, which are exclusively stories of stupid people dying in stupid ways, have hit the NY Times Best Seller's List by being purchased exclusively by gamers.
Furthermore, when Steve Irwin died, only gamers were making jokes. Same with Cory Lidle.
It isn't that death is often absurd and ironic, and therefore very funny, it's that gamers laugh at this and the rest of the populace cringes."
Don't be a fool.
Where did I say that gamers are the only people who make jokes about things like this? My point is that if gamers do ridicule people's deaths in this way, they are adding fuel to the already blazing inferno of opposition to the gaming community.
Jack Thompson and those like him aren't the kind of people who care whether or not gamers are the only ones who do this sort of thing. They'll willingly ignore the fact that nongamers are just as likely to respond with jokes in this situation. So what's the solution? The gaming community needs to fight against the antisocial/violent/desensitized stereotype. To show that they're not morally inferior to nongamers. And not just "uninferior", but superior. Maybe it's idealistic, but it's still something we should strive for.
Responses like these aren't helping. Get it?
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Joystiq's comment area just happens to be gifted with a great many of these people.
Frankly, I'd rather die from drinking too much water than waste day after day of my life being bitter old losers like some of you do.
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Apparently though, drinking too much too fast can kill you too. Didn't know that- yipes!
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I am also completely appalled by some of the comments people have made. This is not a joke, someone died here. Show some fucking respect. If you actually bothered to read the article you would've known the woman had 3 kids and was doing it for her kids. The kind of jokes people have made are totally disrepectful to the family and you should be ashamed of yourself for writing them.
After reading some of the "jokes" posted I'm starting to feel like maybe Jack Thompson has a point.
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haha no but seriously. i wonder who won?
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Having people drink mass amounts of water to derange their electrolytes AND not having them urinate - the body's main defense against water intoxication = recipe for disaster. A very sad incident.
That being said, gamers should not be expected to behave in a way "superior" to non gamers. Any idealistic goals regarding gamers should apply to non gamers as well. JT is an attention-seeking-overdrive-evangelist-reality-twister that has very little (if any) merit. He does not "have a point" because people on joystiq make light of this situation. Thats how some people cope with terrible events. "Gallows humor" if you will.
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But you dont have to hold your pee to read me stuff that makes you go WEEEEEEE
http://mbcpoetry.wordpress.com
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@ #9 Shimbre your a sick fuck. Instead of being sympathetic for this woman and her family you hate on Americans. I don't know who you are or where your from but I would kick your ass in a heart beat if I heard you say that.
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(Yeah, I never got into the Darwin Awards books either.)
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Excessive water in the body causes salt levels in the blood to drop which interferes with brain, heart and muscle functioning. If in excess, it can certainly lead to death.
This is truly sad this has happened.
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