When you drink a lot of water during bleeding

A healthy adult has 5 to 6 liters of blood. Loss of one-third to one-half of it is life-threatening. A person is very thirsty when s/he bleeds badly, because he s/has lost a lot of water with blood.

At this point, drinking a lot of water is life-threatening because of thirst. After bleeding, the water in the tissue is drawn into the blood to replenish the amount of blood lost and to ensure that the blood is fully circulated in the body.

When water is drunk, relatively more water than normal is absorbed into the blood. This causes water to penetrate into the erythrocytes and swell, and when it becomes more severe, erythrocytes burst.

The erythrocyte burst causes the function of carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide to cease, and life is thus at risk. Therefore, after bleeding badly, you should never drink much water and immediately seek the help of healthcare provider.