A mother of three has issued a stern warning against energy drinks after her husband suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after downing “two to three cans a day”.
In a social media video that has now been viewed over 5 million times, store manager Megan Shreve explained how her husband’s caffeinated soda habit caused him to “arrest cardiac.”
Medics had to perform chest compressions to revive Aaron Shreve, 34, which resulted in him suffering fractured ribs, his wife claimed.
Shreve remained in hospital for five to six weeks while cardiologists examined the condition of his heart.
Doctors ultimately determined that his attacks were caused by “dehydration and excessive consumption of energy drinks.”
Megan Shreve of Colorado Springs, US, said her husband went into shock cardiac arrest one night in January and she believes it was caused by drinking too many energy drinks.
In a comment next to the video, Mrs Shreve revealed that her husband consumed “two or three” energy drinks and coffee a day.
“This is an extremely dangerous practice… I watched a 105lb (47kg) woman pull my husband out of a chair and begin compressions so hard she broke his ribs,” said Mrs Shreve, who lives in Colorado, US.
“I saw everyone pouring in. I didn’t know what to do, I was backed up against the wall. So if you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for the important people in your life so they don’t have to go through this.”
Mrs Shreve said the ordeal began in January this year.
“One night in early January, my husband woke me up in the middle of the night and said he wasn’t feeling well.
“His heart was beating rapidly, his limbs were numb and he felt sick.”
Aaron Shreve suffered broken ribs after doctors performed cardiac resuscitation on him after he went into cardiac arrest.
“I thought he was having a panic attack. He was like, ‘I think you should call 911. I think you need to go to the hospital.’
Mrs Shreve claimed her husband collapsed “within a minute” of being examined by a doctor at the hospital.
“Alarms started going off and his heart stopped.”
She added that staff “pulled” him out of the chair and began chest compressions to restart his heart.
“She raised the alarm and people were coming basically to resuscitate him.”
Fortunately, doctors were able to restart Shreve’s heart and after six weeks of monitoring, he was able to return home.
Initially, doctors “had no answers” as “essentially nothing was wrong,” but ultimately concluded that the arrest was the result of Shreve drinking Red Bull.
Each can contains about 80mg of caffeine, 20mg less than the average cup of coffee, and Shreve is said to have consumed two to three cans, or up to 240mg, before his heart problems began.
“The doctors at the emergency room said it was because of the Red Bull,” she said in a subsequent post.
Mrs. Shreve said these drinks would make her more dehydrated.
Many studies have linked energy drinks to heart problems, including irregular heartbeats and cardiac arrest.
A Mayo Clinic analysis in June found that of 144 cardiac arrests studied, seven patients had consumed energy drinks shortly before the fatal event.
All seven had a genetic heart condition that made them prone to arrhythmia.
This risk is thought to be due to the high amounts of caffeine contained in some energy drinks.
An average cup of coffee contains around 100mg of caffeine, while an energy drink like Monster can contain up to 160mg.
One can of Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine.
Caffeine stimulates the release of the hormones noradrenaline and norepinephrine, which can increase your heart rate and blood pressure.
Experts have also raised concerns about other chemicals in energy drinks, such as taurine, which some say has stimulating properties.
While most people can tolerate caffeine, some people may experience palpitations or increased heart rate.
The Food Standards Agency says 400mg a day is safe for adults.
But experts say people with a rare heart condition called long QT syndrome (LQTS) may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of even small amounts of caffeine.
The disease, which causes the heart to struggle to recharge between beats, doesn’t always cause symptoms, so many patients may not even know they have it.
“The amounts and combination of chemicals in energy drinks can surprise a vulnerable heart and send it into a deadly heart rhythm that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death,” said Dr. Michael Ackerman, a genetic cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
He said the absolute risk of danger to people without heart defects was “very low,” but that it could harm “fragile hearts.” Higher.
“For my patients who have long QT syndrome, a genetic heart disease that can lead to sudden cardiac death, the appropriate dose of high-caffeine energy drinks is zero,” he said.
This comes just days after it was revealed that a “healthy and fit” 18-year-old from Oklahoma had died from a shock heart attack linked to consuming an energy drink.
Zak Dolan had a habit of using both a pre-workout (water mixed with a stimulant powder) and an energy drink before hitting the gym.
Mr Dolan’s girlfriend, Libby Gilmore, said his death made her want to “raise awareness of how harmful these drinks and ingredients are”.
Meanwhile, British experts called for energy drinks to be banned in schools after a young student in Wales suffered cardiac arrest after consuming an overdose of them in May last year.
“Consuming caffeinated drinks rapidly can cause breathing problems, changes in alertness, agitation, confusion, hallucinations and even convulsions (seizures),” pharmacist Abbas Kanani told Mail Online.
“Caffeine can irritate the gastrointestinal tract and cause stomach upset, nausea and diarrhea.”
