Ask A Scientist© Molecular Biology Archive

>name       Morse
>   status     other
>   age        20s
>
>   Question - Hello,
>
>I have searched the archives and could not find the
>specific answer to the following question: If a person is stranded in the 
>ocean
>and is already severely dehydrated, what specific would happen to the
>body if they were to drink from the salty ocean water? Do organs shut down?
>Does the heart burst? I was looking specifically in order. Thank you for
>your time.
>
>he main problem will be the inability for the body to maintain the proper
>somotic pressure in all the cells of the body. As
>The person drinks salt water it just exacerbates a bad situation by causing
>the body to have an even greater burden of eliminating salts (sea water has
>a variety of different salts) . Depending on the person various organs
>might fail first...but nothing as dramatic as a "bursting heart" will
>occur. It is far more likely that among other things the problems of brain
>cells being in a hypertonic environment would effect the brain and its
>regulation of critical functions. Eventually the person will go into
>irreversible shock and the single final reason for death would probably be
>heart failure.
>
>pf
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