Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Salt and Organs 
Name: Morse
Status: Other
Age: 20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
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.


Replies:
The 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


Click here to return to the Molecular Biology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory