1 Department of Pediatrics, Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62708
The recent communication by Schulman,1 which reminds us that water intoxication is not always iatrogenic and may occur out of the hospital, appeared just as we were combing the literature for a better understanding of a similar problem; namely, heat illness. The similarities between Schulman's patients and some patients with heat exhaustion are noteworthy.
In an exhaustive review of the subject of heat illness, Knochel2 describes two forms of heat exhaustion: one resulting from predominant water depletion; the other, from predominant salt depletion.