Beer potomania can best be described as :

• A. Hyponatremia due to beer intake
• B. Dehydration from beer
• C. Dilutional hyponatremia from beer
• D. Dilutional hypothermia from drinking excessive amounts of beer

Answer: (D)

Beer potomania occurs when a person drinks a large amount of beer combined with very low dietary solute. The kidneys rely on solute to generate urine with enough free water clearance. When solute intake is minimal, the body's ability to excrete free water is reduced. Drinking lots of beer adds water but not solutes, so the result is an excess of free water relative to solute, which dilutes serum sodium—this is dilutional hyponatremia caused by the low solute load from beer. It’s not primarily dehydration, which would raise sodium, and it’s not related to hypothermia. So the best description is dilutional hyponatremia from beer.