You may have heard about Jennifer Strange, the unfortunate Sacramento woman who apparently died of water intoxification during a radio-station contest.
According to news reports, the 28-year-old woman was trying to win the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest sponsored by radio station KDND-FM. Contestants had to drink water as long as they could without going to the bathroom.
(I'll leave it to commenters to weigh in on the intelligence levels of the contestant and/or the radio station.)
It wasn’t clear how much Strange actually drank and how quickly. And,
at least judging from Wikipedia, it's not easy to tell how much waterwill kill someone: it could be as little as .79 of a gallon for ahealthy person, which doesn't sound like a lot.
The logistics of water intoxication are pretty complicated (about.com has an explanation.) But it's fairly easy to avoid, even if you're in the most vulnerable group -- marathoners.
According to guidelines
developed by the American Medical Athletic Association and USA Track& Field, avoid drinking more than 16-24 ounces of fluid (includingsport drinks) one to two hours before a race. And "figure out personalintake and output levels by weighing yourself before and after atraining run: If you lost weight, you should drink more the next time.
If you gained weight, you should drink less."
Woman dies after water drinking contest [Associated Press]
