Emma Miller
In the most severe cases, conditions such as heat exhaustion, dehydration, and others can also cause fainting. As people try to cool off from this summer’s abnormal heat, they need to be mindful of the real health warnings and misinformation about viruses.
Is it dangerous to drink ice water?
Drinking water is one of the surest ways to keep your body temperature at an acceptable level during extreme heat. As a general rule, health experts recommend drinking at least two liters a day, but a little more in hot weather. Most of them add ice to their glasses, and some have heard warnings that drinking it too quickly is dangerous to health.
Every summer, several messages circulating on the Internet urging people not to drink cold water, as it can have potentially dangerous consequences. The frozen liquid can disturb the esophagus, causing unpleasant symptoms. These include stomach cramps or chest pain, and distinctive signs of esophageal spasm.
Online, people claimed that this process puts the body into a state of shock. One man in a viral video said that he “started to get spots,” his stomach “felt very sick,” and his arms and legs “started to tingle.” The man added that the cold water disrupted his body’s signals, making him think he was “hypothermic.”
He claimed that rapid exposure to cold water and air after work causes the body to redistribute blood from the arms, legs, and head to the stomach. Medical professionals do not believe the water was the cause and that people rarely faint in hot weather.
Doctors believe that fainting in hot weather is caused by underlying diseases, not just cold water. In the most severe cases, conditions such as heat exhaustion, dehydration, and others can also cause fainting. People are at risk for any of these when it gets too hot, and experts agree that they are the most likely cause of fainting.
Emergency room nurse Tenneson Lewis told the fact-checking website Snopes that without a serious medical problem, they most likely passed out “due to dehydration.” Anyone who is exposed to the sun is likely to feel drugged if they abruptly stop physical activity. Heat-related problems tend to occur in people working outside in hot weather who sit down and rest.
Heat stroke is a particular risk in these circumstances, and people should pay attention to possible symptoms. They are almost exactly the same as those claimed by the creator of the viral video to be caused by cold water.
Heat stroke can cause:
- Nausea
- Seeing spots
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Confusion of consciousness
- Feeling unwell and loss of appetite
- Excessive sweating
- Pale, clammy skin
- Cramps in the legs, abdomen, and arms
- Heart palpitations and rapid breathing
- High temperature (38C +)
- Excessive thirst
