Salt poisoning - or sodium poisoning - is poisoning resulting from excessive sodium intake (usually as sodium chloride) either in solid form or in solution (brine, including saltwater , brackish water, or seawater).
In medicine, the state of salt poisoning is most often found in children or infants who may be made to consume excessive amounts of salt. At least one example of child homicide being hospitalized by salt poisoning has been reported.
Too much salt intake in adults can also occur from drinking sea water in a situation of survival or drinking soy sauce. Salt poisoning has also been seen in a number of adults with mental health problems.
Video Salt poisoning
Symptoms and physiology
Salt poisoning usually produces a feeling of confusion and anxiety; a more severe degree of poisoning can cause seizures and coma. Death may occur if medical intervention is not given. These symptoms are generally a consequence of hypernatremia - abnormally high levels of sodium in the blood. (There are so many causes of hypernatremia, which are often found in medical practice: salt poisoning is not a common cause.)
Initially, the intoxicant will experience a strong thirst, followed by weakness, nausea, and loss of appetite. More severe symptoms occur, including confusion, muscle twitching, and bleeding in or around the brain. (Normal serum sodium levels are 135 - 145 mEq/liter (135 - 145 mmol/L).Symptoms are usually only occurring when levels above 160 mEq/L.) The human kidney system actively regulates sodium chloride in the blood in a very narrow range about 9 g/L (0.9 wt%).
Inadvertently consuming clean water in small quantities is not harmful, especially if sea water is taken together with a greater quantity of fresh water. However, drinking sea water to keep hydration is counterproductive; more water must be removed to remove salt (through urine) than the amount of water obtained from the sea water itself.
In most open water concentrations varies slightly around typical values ​​of about 3.5%; drinking sea water to temporarily increase blood concentration of NaCl, which signals the kidneys to remove sodium. However, the sodium concentration of seawater is above the maximum concentration of the kidneys. Eventually the blood sodium concentration rises to a toxic level, releases water from the cells and interferes with nerve conduction, eventually resulting in fatal seizures and cardiac arrhythmias.
Maps Salt poisoning
Sea water poisoning
The survival manual consistently advises against drinking sea water. A summary of 163 travel raft trips estimates a 39% mortality risk for those who drink seawater, compared to 3% for those who do not drink seawater. The effects of sea water intake on mice confirm the negative effects of drinking seawater when dehydrated. (Unlike humans, pelagic birds and other marine animals can (and should) drink seawater without adverse effects.)
- Historical experience
Some historians have claimed that the mysterious illness that befell the early British invaders in Jamestown, Virginia (1607-1610) - which virtually extinguished settlements - reflects the poisoning of seawater. The settlers arrive in the spring, when the water of the James River is relatively fresh, but in the summer the great drought of history has made it much more brackish. The historical geographer Carville Earle, among others, holds to this view.
The temptation to drink seawater is greatest for seafarers who have depleted their fresh water supplies, and can not catch enough rain to drink. This frustration is best illustrated by a line from the epic poem Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798):
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- "Water, water, everywhere,
And all those boards are shrinking; Water, water, everywhere,
There is no drink. "
- "Water, water, everywhere,
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Although humans can not survive in seawater only - and, indeed, will quickly get sick if they try - some claim that up to two cups a day, mixed with fresh water in a 2: 3 ratio, do not produce any adverse effects. During the 18th century, British physician Richard Russell (1687-1759) advocated this practice as part of medical therapy in his country. (In the 20th century, Renà ©  © Quinton (1866-1925), in France, will also support the practice.Nowadays, this practice is widely used in Nicaragua and other countries, allegedly utilizing the latest medical discoveries. In 1948, Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl reported drinking seawater was freshly mixed in a 2: 3 ratio during the 1947 expedition. French physician Alain Bombard (1924-2005) survived the ocean crossings (1952-53 ) on a small Zodiac rubber boat using raw fish meat, containing about 40 percent water (like most living tissues), as well as a small amount of seawater and other provisions taken from the ocean. His discovery was challenged, but an alternative explanation was not given. Several years later, an American sailor and adventurer, William Willis (1893-1968), claimed to have drunk two cups of sea water and one fresh cup per day for 70 days with no ill effects when he lost some of his water supply.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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