Water: Drinking Too Much Results In Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia (EAH)

Too much of anything isn't good for you. And it just so turns out, that's even true when it comes to water.

Researchers at the Loyola University Health System examine the condition called exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH), also known as "water intoxication," which results from drinking too much water or sports drinks. The health problem has killed 14 athletes, including marathon runners and football players.

"The risks associated with dehydration are small," said Dr. James Winger, sports medicine physician at Loyola University Medical Center in a news release. "No one has died on sports fields from dehydration, and the adverse effects of mild dehydration are questionable. But athletes, on rare occasions, have died from overhydration."

The health problem results when drinking too much fluid overwhelms the kidneys' ability to excrete excess water load. Sodium in the body then becomes diluted, causing swelling in the cells that can become life-threatening.

Symptoms of the condition may include nausea, headache, puffiness, weight gain, vomiting and in more severe cases, seizure and even coma.

Athletes, over other groups, are oftentimes advised to "push fluids." However, more water will not help prevent fatigue, cramps or heat stroke.

"Muscle cramps and heatstroke are not related to dehydration," Winger concluded. "You get heat stroke because you're producing too much heat."

The current guidelines advice that EAH is treated with a concentrated saline solution that is just about 3 percent sodium.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 

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