People die of ecstasy because it causes them to sweat at ridiculous rates, and they don't drink water to rehydrate. I'm not sure why you'd want to hang out in a crowd of badly dressed sweaty people who don't shower while listening to mostly bad music (gimme good old fashioned industrial, screw this popified half assed wish I was techno raver shit), but hey, I guess everyone needs a hobby.
Actually it causes the body to overheat but turns off the feedback loop which the body uses to realise it's hot and try to sweat to cool down, so the person just keeps overheating until they fall down. It was the example we learned in human physiology for hyperthermia.
Also, it's possible to drink too much water and overhydrate. I'm not sure of the physiological specifics but this was the cause of death for high-profile Ecstacy victim Leah Betts. I remember reading some time ago that drinking too much water caused more deaths among E users than the converse.
P.S. @ jsbowden: "I'm not sure why you'd want to hang out in a crowd of badly dressed sweaty people who don't shower while listening to mostly bad music"
The only two conditions in which one con consume too much water are infants or marathon runners. While she may have consumed a lot of water, it would have been the drug that caused the fatality. Even the coroner who examined Leah Betts' body said that it was the drug that caused the death, but he hypothesised that the large consumption of water complicated the effect. Indeed she would've been thirsty because her body would be telling her she's overheating and needs to cool down. Falling into a coma and dying can also happen with ecstasy, so I'm not convinced it was the water consumption which caused that.
About one quarter of the overall population would have an adverse effect from ecstasy.
(I just read up about the Leah Betts situation since it was something I was not familiar with.)
It's most common in fants, and uncommon in athletes (http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blwaterintox.htm) and it would be extremely unusual for it to happen to an adult. While apparently it did occur to a woman who was in a water drinking contest, she was also not allowed to go use the toilet to urinate during the contest. That is not a good combination. In the case of the teen above, she was also taking ecstasy which causes hyperthermia which can be fatal (hyperthermia is usually known as heat exhaustion and heat stroke, depending on intensity).
So yes, it's technically not the only two situations, but you'd have to be trying pretty damn hard to do it otherwise. In both above cases, there was more than simply water consumption that complicated the matter.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-15 07:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-15 07:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-15 08:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-15 08:31 pm (UTC)And people wonder why I figure at 28 I'm too old for that stuff? I've developed my sense of self-preservation since I was younger...
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-16 12:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-16 03:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-18 02:37 pm (UTC)P.S. @ jsbowden: "I'm not sure why you'd want to hang out in a crowd of badly dressed sweaty people who don't shower while listening to mostly bad music"
Because you're on drugs, dude!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-18 03:26 pm (UTC)About one quarter of the overall population would have an adverse effect from ecstasy.
(I just read up about the Leah Betts situation since it was something I was not familiar with.)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-18 03:30 pm (UTC)Not true. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication)
Admittedly, it's usually in the context of stupid stunts, but it can happen to a non-infant non-runner.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-18 03:42 pm (UTC)So yes, it's technically not the only two situations, but you'd have to be trying pretty damn hard to do it otherwise. In both above cases, there was more than simply water consumption that complicated the matter.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-20 02:23 pm (UTC)Re. "About one quarter of the overall population would have an adverse effect from ecstasy."
What would be an "adverse reaction"? 25% of "the overall population" is a big figure.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-15 09:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-15 09:57 pm (UTC)