Bach Mai Hospital has just warned about receiving many cases of critical poisoning, difficulty breathing, and coma due to drinking "alkaline water" that is advertised as being able to cure many diseases.
The latest case is Ms. PTM (60 years old, living in Tan Dan, Soc Son, Hanoi), who was admitted to the hospital in a state of exhaustion, weak limbs, vomiting for many days without stopping, vomiting gastric juice and bile. The patient was transferred to the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital with a diagnosis of alkaline water poisoning, metabolic alkalosis and hypokalemia.
Through investigation, patient M. said that due to many diseases such as stomach, duodenum, colon, thyroid tumor, numbness in hands and feet, when hearing some people talking about a place to drink "water" to cure all diseases right in the locality, Ms. M. went there to ask for water to cure her illness.
“There they did not examine me but only asked about my condition and I was instructed to treat my illness by drinking “water” from a filter every day, adding a little salt to make it easier to drink and not eating anything. Drink at least 5-6 liters a day, for about 10-15 days,” Ms. M. shared about the treatment “regimen”. At the same time, she said that after less than 5 days of drinking water and fasting, Ms. M. could not stand, started vomiting continuously, and had to be hospitalized for emergency care.
Doctor Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center, said that the hospital had just received a cluster of 3 cases of illness caused by drinking “alkaline water” to treat illness. All 3 patients had kidney failure and were undergoing dialysis at Lai Chau General Hospital and had stopped dialysis on their own to go to Thanh Oai (Hanoi) to find a type of drinking water in a manner not unlike that of patient M. in Soc Son.
However, these 3 patients only took the medicine for about 2-3 days and had difficulty breathing and coma, requiring emergency treatment. At the hospital, the 3 patients were diagnosed with impaired consciousness, respiratory failure, severe myocardial damage, and acute pulmonary edema due to fluid overload complications on the basis of chronic kidney failure. Notably, the test results showed that the levels of urea, potassium, and creatinine in the blood were very high, many times higher than normal.
Drinking too much normal water (filtered water or boiled water that has been cooled) in a day, even in healthy people, is very dangerous and can cause harm such as: edema, pulmonary edema, blood dilution, hyponatremia, cerebral edema, coma, convulsions..., not to mention drinking large amounts of alkaline water every day.
According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, the type of water that patient M. drank has a pH of 7.5, so drinking a lot of this type of water will change the pH in the blood, causing metabolic alkalosis, which is very dangerous to health. The body's blood has a stable pH of 7.35 - 7.45 and this index allows many substances in the body, enzymes to move and function, helping the absorption, metabolism, and organ function reactions in the body. When there is a change in the pH of the blood, the body will be disturbed and many diseases will arise. In particular, when drinking a lot of alkaline water, the body's pH will increase, causing sensory disturbances, coma, hypokalemia leading to arrhythmia, paralysis, coma, and even death.
“When suspecting illness, the patient needs to visit a registered medical facility. Diet and drink must be varied in type, quantity, and volume, appropriate to the needs and health status. In particular, do not arbitrarily drink too much of any type of water to avoid endangering the body. Authorities need to increase information, warnings, and even investigate and handle strictly to avoid illegal business activities behind the incident, endangering people's health,” Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen stated.
MINH KHANG
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/uong-nuoc-kiem-chua-benh-nhieu-nguoi-hon-me-nguy-kich-post763776.html
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