Water Can Kill?

Three True Stories: Questions

1. What sort of environment (hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic) does consuming excessive amounts of pure water create in the body fluid that surrounds your cells? What effect would this have on your cells?

- An excessive amount of pure water creates a hypotonic environment outside the cells. It causes water to move into the cells which causes them to swell.

2. What types of symptoms did Jennifer, Cassandra, and James have in common? Which organ or tissue seems to have been most affected?

- All three patients experienced some sort of dizziness, headache, or unconsciousness. The brain seems to be the most affected portion of the body in hyponatremia.

3. Keeping in mind your answers to questions 1 and 2, what do you think the immediate cause of death was for Jennifer, Cassandra, and James?

- Swelling of the brain was more than likely the immediate cause of death for the three patients. The cells began to swell and did not have enough room for the swelling.

4. If you suspected that a patient’s symptoms were caused by the condition suffered by Jennifer, Cassandra, and James, what kinds of test would you run to confirm your suspicions?

- Comprehensive metabolic panel, including blood sodium concentration

- Osmolarity blood test

- Osmolarity urine test

- Urine sodium test

5. Once you knew the cause of their symptoms, what kind of emergency treatment might you try for a patient like Cassandra or James if you were the doctor in charge of their care?

- Depending on the exact cause of the hyponatremia, treatments may include administering a saline solution through an IV, temporarily restricting water intake, and/or providing medications to relieve the symptoms.

6. Why do you think doctors administer a saline solution instead of pure water to dehydrated patients?

- Because the saline solution is the same concentration as the blood in the body. Being the same concentrations, the saline solution will rehydrate a patient...