Dave Smith wrote:
> Goomba38 wrote:
>
> > > Nurses cab be wrong about things. I have a sister in law who is a nurse who
> > > got pregnant (with twins) when her birth control failed. I find it hard to
> > > believe that distilled water can leech calcium from bones. There are other
> > > things going on in the body that are responsible for maintaining chemical
> > > balances, as evidenced by increased risk of osteoporosis in women over
> > > men. The parathyroid also robs the body of calcium. Even if distilled
> > > water may lead to some reduction on bone density, mineral supplements could
> > > counter the problem.
> >
> > I was in a critical care conference today that mentioned the risks of
> > distilled water (specifically) and water intoxication (in general).
> > Because of the way water in the body travels to areas of higher solute
> > concentration, you can actually "absorb" more fluid in areas of your
> > body than normal. This can cause cerebral edema (NOT a good thing) as
> > well as other problems.
>
> Distilled water is merely (almost) pure water. Once water gets into your system
> it dissolves other solutes already there. It is no longer pure. BTW, do they not
> use distilled water in IV solutions?

*Sterile* water... usually saline, perhaps some form of sugar, also
contains other meds as well... there goes the distilled... may have
started off as distilled water but then had 'medicinals' added. Not
much medical use for pure water with IVs. And sterile water must be
lableled sterile for IV use... often sterile water is clearly labled
for inhalation and oral administration only. In other words it's not
quite sterile enough for injection. There's a huge difference between
distilled and sterile, and medically sterile... medically sterile for
IV use typically has a rather short shelf life, perhaps a month or two,
is hermetically sealed, and needs refrigeration.

Sheldon