Hyponatremia

A 28-year-old woman found dead hours after taking part in a radio station's water-drinking contest died of water intoxication, the coroner's office said Saturday. Assistant Sacramento County Coroner Ed Smith said a preliminary investigation found evidence "consistent with a water intoxication death." Also known as hyponatremia, water intoxication occurs when the body's sodium level falls below normal.

With public concern growing, law officers launched a formal inquiry Wednesday into the death of a 28-year-old mother after she drank nearly 2 gallons of water in a radio station's on-air contest. Jennifer Strange, a mother of three from suburban Rancho Cordova, died Friday of apparent water intoxication hours after a failed attempt to win a Nintendo Wii video game system for her children in a promotion dubbed "Hold Your Wee for a Wii."

THE last thing I remember is feeling slightly dizzy in the final mile. Until then, everything was great at the Reggae Marathon in Jamaica, where my friend Rita Whitney and I were walking the 26.2-mile course to celebrate my 50th birthday. The next thing I remember is waking up from a coma four days later in the intensive care unit at Duke University Medical Center, with no idea how I got there. I have no memory of completing the race, then collapsing just past the finish line.