Brooke Shields’ health scare explained

Doctors often urge patients to drink more water, with a paltry 22% of Americans consuming the recommended eight glasses per day.

But Brooke Shields’ over-hydration health scare is sure to cause many to turn off the tap.

The “Pretty Baby” star, 58, revealed this week that she recently suffered a grand mal seizure after drinking too much H₂O.

“Everything started to go black,” Shields recalled in Glamour’s Women of the Year 2023 issue, published Wednesday. “Then my hands drop to my side and I go headfirst into the wall.”

“I start having a grand mal seizure,” the actress explained. “It means frothing at the mouth, totally blue, trying to swallow my tongue. The next thing I remember, I’m being loaded into an ambulance. I have oxygen on.”

“I flooded my system, and I drowned myself,” she further declared, disclosing the reason for the terrifying medical episode. “If you don’t have enough sodium in your blood or urine or your body, you can have a seizure.”

Indeed, over-hydration — also known as water toxicity — can cause seizures, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging people not to drink more than 48 ounces (the equivalent of six cups) per hour.

Shields revealed that she already had low sodium levels at the time she was consuming lots of water, which can be very dangerous.

Water dilutes the sodium in the blood, causing a condition known as hyponatremia.

According to the Mayo Clinic, low levels of sodium cause cells to swell. In the brain, this can lead to increased pressure on the skull, possibly causing a seizure. The medical organization describes hyponatremia as “life-threatening.”

Shield didn’t disclose just how much water she had been drinking, but Mayo’s expert say that 3.7 liters of fluids daily for men and 2.7 liters for women is plenty.

This includes beverages other than aqua, such as milk, juice and coffee. Doctors generally advise drinking eight glasses of plain water per day, although modifications may need to be made depending on the environment and the amount of exercise undertaken.

To avoid overhydration, experts advise drinking no more than 13 cups of water every day and consuming less than one liter per hour.

Seizures aren’t the only potential problem that can occur from over-hydration. The condition can also cause headaches, nausea, vomiting and, in extreme cases, drowsiness, muscle cramps or fatigue, double vision, high blood pressure, confusion or difficulty breathing.

And while the grand mal seizure Shields suffered won’t leave her with any permanent health problems, over-hydration can be deadly.

In July, an Indiana mother of two died after consuming an estimated 64 ounces of water — or about 8 glasses — in just 20 minutes.