Man, 34, suffers cardiac arrest 'triggered by drinking daily Red Bull' - and it wasn't as many cans as you might think...
READ MORE: Experts reveal worrying chemicals inside YOUR energy drinks By Eve Simmons Health Editor For Mailonline Published: 10:41 EDT, 26 August 2024 | Updated: 10:43 EDT, 26 August 2024 e-mail View comments A mother-of-three has issued a stark warning against energy drinks after her husband suffered a deadly cardiac arrest as a result of glugging 'two to three cans a day'. In a social media video that has now amassed five million views, store manager Meagan Shreve explained how her husband's caffeinated soda habit caused his 'heart to stop'. Doctors had to perform chest compressions on Aaron Shreve, 34, to resuscitate him, resulting in broken ribs, claimed his wife.
Shreve remained in hospital for 'five to six weeks' while cardiologists monitored his heart. Doctors ultimately concluded his attack was a result of 'dehydration and he was having too many energy drinks.' Meagan Shreve, from Colorado Springs, USA, says her husband suffered a shock cardiac arrest one January evening, which she believes was caused by his energy drink habit In comments beside the video, Mrs Shreve clarifies that her husband was drinking 'two to three' energy drinks per day, plus coffee.
'This can be extremely, extremely dangerous...
I watched this 105 pound [47 kilograms] woman drag my husband out of a chair and start chest compressions so hard that she broke his ribs,' said Mrs Shreve, who is based in Colorado in the US. 'I saw everybody flood in. I was pushed against a wall not knowing what to do.
So if you're not gonna [sic] do it for yourself, do it for the people in your life so they don't have to witness something like this.' The ordeal began in January this year, Mrs Shreve said. 'One night, at the beginning of January, my husband woke me up in the middle of the night and said he was not feeling great.
'His heart was racing, his hands and feet were going numb and he just didn't feel right. Aaron Shreve suffered broken ribs after medics had to restart his heart following a cardiac arrest. 'I thought he was having a panic attack.
..he was like, I think you need to call 9-1-1, I think I need to go to the hospital.
' Mrs Shreve claimed that 'in less than a minute' of seeing a hospital doctor, her husband had collapsed. 'All these alarms started going off..
.his heart stopped.' She added that a staff member 'yanked' him out of his chair and began chest compressions in an attempt to restart his heart.
'She called the alarm, people were basically coming to revive him.' Thankfully the doctors were able to restart Mr Shreve's heart and, after six weeks of monitoring, he was able to return home. Although at first, medics had 'no answers', as there was 'essentially nothing wrong with him', they eventually concluded the arrest was a result of Mr Shreve's consumption of 'Red Bull'.
One can contains around 80mg of caffeine - 20mg less than the average cup of coffee. Mr Shreve is said to have consumed 2-3 cans, up to 240mg, prior to his heart problems. 'The emergency room doctors said they were attributing it to the Red Bull,' she said in a follow-up post .
The drinks were said to exacebate the effects of dehydration, according to Mrs Shreve. A number of studies have linked energy drinks to heart problems, including irregular heartbeats and cardiac arrest. In June, findings from a Mayo clinic analysis found that out of 144 cardiac arrests studied, seven patients had drunk an energy drink shortly before the deadly event.
The risk is thought to lie with the mega doses of caffeine in a typical energy drink. While the average cup of coffee contains around 100mg of caffeine, energy drinks like Monster contain up to 160mg. One can of Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine.
Drinking caffeine promotes the release of the hormones noradrenaline and norepinephrine, which can increase heart rate and blood pressure. Experts have also raised concerns about other chemicals found in energy drinks, such as taurine, which some suggest has stimulant properties. For most people the caffeine is well tolerated, but others experience palpitations or extra beats from the heart.
The Food Standards Agency says 400mg per day is safe for adults. However experts say those with a rare heart problem called long QT syndrome (LQTS) may be especially vulnerable to even small doses of caffeine. The condition, whereby the heart struggles to recharge between beats, doesn't always cause symptoms, which means many sufferers may not be aware they have it.
'The magnitude and the combination of the chemicals in energy drinks can catch the vulnerable heart off guard and send it into a potentially lethal heart rhythm that leads to sudden cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death,' said Dr Michael Ackerman, genetic cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He added that while the absolute risk of danger is 'very low' for those without heart defects, the potential for harm to a 'fragile heart' is higher. 'For my patients with long QT syndrome or any genetic heart disease that is associated with sudden cardiac death, the appropriate dose of a highly caffeinated energy drink is 0,' he said.
It comes days after it was revealed that a 'fit and healthy' Oklahoma 18-year-old died of a shock heart attack linked to his energy drink consumption . Zach Doran had been in the habit of using both pre-workout - a stimulant powder added to water, and energy drinks, before his gym session. Doran's girlfriend, Libby Gilmore, said his death had made her 'want to show how harmful these drinks and ingredients can be'.
Meanwhile in May last year, experts in the UK called for a ban on energy drinks in school after a young, Welsh pupil suffered a cardiac arrest following a binge on the soda. 'Drinking caffeinated drinks too quickly may lead to breathing trouble, changes in alertness, agitation, confusion, hallucinations and even convulsions (seizures),' pharmacist Abbas Kanani told MailOnline. 'Caffeine also stimulates the gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to an upset stomach, nausea and diarrhoea.
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