In the last hours, the rare case of Ashley Summers, a 35-year-old American woman who, strangely, died from drinking water too quickly, was announced.
Summer, a resident of Indiana, USA, was traveling in Lake Freeman with her husband and two young daughters when she became very dehydrated. I had dizziness and a headache.
To quickly quench his thirst he began to hydrate very quickly. She managed to return home, but continued to feel unwell and passed out in her garage, so her family rushed her to IU Health Arnett Hospital.
Ashley was the mother of two little girls. Photo: Facebook
Her brother, Devon Miller, told WRTV that Ashley drank four bottles of water in just 20 minutes. He ingested in that short period of time the recommended amount of liter for a whole day.
When Summers arrived at the hospital, doctors discovered he was suffering from brain inflammation.
"My sister, Holly, called me, and she was just an absolute mess. She was like, 'Ashley is in the hospital. He has brain inflammation, they don't know what's causing it, they don't know what they can do to get it down and he doesn't look good,'" Miller said.
The woman began to feel dehydrated and within hours fainted. Photo: Facebook
Summers was never able to regain consciousness. The professionals who treated her informed her family that she had died from water toxicity.
What happened to Ashley Summers?
Blake Froberg, the hospital's toxicologist, said deaths like Ashley's often occur during the summer and are most likely to be suffered by people who work outdoors or exercise frequently.
"There are certain things that can make someone more at risk, but what happens in general is that you have too much water and you don't have enough sodium in your body," Froberg explained.
Summers, who was an organ donor, donated his heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and some of his long bone tissue, ultimately saving five more lives, his family said.
Summers had brain inflammation. Photo: Facebook
What may be symptoms of dehydration
According to Mayo Clinic, dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you ingest, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If the fluids that were lost are not replenished, there will be dehydration.
Drinking little water can be as bad as drinking too much and excessively. Therefore, in young people the thirst mechanism is the best indicator. The same does not happen in the case of infants or elderly who depend on third parties who are responsible for ensuring adequate hydration.
Signs to be alert include intense thirst and dry mouth, body temperature greater than 39º, excessive sweating, feeling of suffocating heat, dry skin, exhaustion or weakness, dizziness or fainting, headaches (throbbing or tightness), confusion and disorientation.
Drinking a lot of water is just as bad as drinking a little.
In adults, the amount needed is 2 to 2.5 liters daily. This measure must be exceeded in special conditions of illness, high temperatures or when we exercise.
Pregnant women and women in lactation time need more than 2 liters per day. Considering that two-thirds of weight gain during pregnancy is water, this condition increases blood volume, helps maintain an adequate amount of amniotic fluid and fetal growth.