OVERDRINKING AND HYPONATRAEMIA

Abstract

It is a great pity that in their excellent article on hyponatraemia Thompson and Crowley (Thompson CJ, Crowley RK. Hyponatraemia. J R Coll Phys Edinb 2009; 39:154–7) made no mention of hyponatraemia induced by overdrinking. This is now a widely recognised hazard for athletes, especially distance runners, and has been the cause of many deaths in very fit and healthy young people.¹ This is due to the ‘liquid refreshment’ industry trying to translate good laboratory research into the different situation in the field.² Unfortunately the drinks industry is now so profitable and powerful that they are still pushing people to drink a lot of fluid. This financially driven momentum has now led to hyponatraemia occuring in patients during labour, increasing the hazards of birth.³ It is time this drive to keep everybody drinking at all times is stopped.