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Whit Johnson ReportingTeenagers in Utah are playing a deadly game that for many parents might seem innocent. It's a drinking game, but no drugs or alcohol are involved, just water.
The game is growing in popularity and Utah parents might want to take notice. Water intoxication killed a woman last week in Sacramento; she was playing the drinking game as part of a radio promotion.
What's scary is teenagers here in Utah are playing a similar game, drinking too much water, and don't think they're doing anything wrong.
It looks like a college drinking game, but you won't find any beer or liquor, just water. It consists of bouncing quarters into cups, forcing other players to drink water.
Fifteen-year-old Melanie has played the game several times, but at her birthday party the fun came to an end.
Melanie: "My friend got way cold and started shaking."
The girl stopped playing before she felt any worse, but that wasn't the case last week in Sacramento, California.
Radio audio: "'Jennifer, I heard you're not doing so well?' My head hurts. They keep telling me that it is the water, that it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke."
A radio contest led to the death of this mother of three. She was trying to win a video game system for her children by drinking as much water as possible without going to the bathroom.
Dr. Wayne Askew, Nutrition Professor, U of U: "This lower portion of the brain stem right here is where they've identified the lesion."
Dr. Wayne Askew, a nutrition professor at the University of Utah, calls it death by hypo-natremia, low sodium levels in the blood caused by drinking too much water.
Dr. Wayne Askew, Nutrition Professor, U of U: "Just like everything else you can push it too far; and I think that's what's happened here in these cases. It's really not a game to be played."
After Melanie's parents learned what happened in Sacramento, he and other parents no longer allow the game to be played.
Dirk Burton, Melanie's Father: "How could water be dangerous? She didn't think it was. She thought I was going overboard at first, until she read the article."
Here are some possible symptoms if you're consuming too much water. Dizziness, nausea, confusion and headaches. Even though deaths are not very common experts say drinking games are definitely not a good idea.
