A 34-year-old man has suffered a deadly cardiac arrest due to his dangerous energy drink addiction.
As a result of drinking two to three cans of Red Bull per day, Aaron Shreve had a serious cardiac arrest.
Cardiologists monitored Aaron’s heart for up to six weeks. Test results have revealed that he suffered a cardiac arrest because of dehydration and he was having too many energy drinks.
Alongside his excessive energy drink intake, his wife Meagan has revealed that he was also drinking coffee every day.
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Meagan said: “This can be extremely, extremely dangerous. I watched this 105-pound woman drag my husband out of a chair and start chest compressions so hard that she broke his ribs.
“I saw everybody flood in. I was pushed against a wall not knowing what to do. So, if you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for the people in your life so they don’t have to witness something like this.”
In a video online, Meagan 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.
“I thought he was having a panic attack. He was like, I think you need to call 911, I think I need to go to the hospital.”
After taking him to the hospital, she revealed that Aaron collapsed in less than minute of seeing a hospital doctor and his heart stopped.
In a follow-up post, she said: “The emergency room doctors said they were attributing it to the Red Bull.”
Previous research has found that energy drinks are associated with an increased risk of heart complications, such as cardiac arrest and irregular heartbeats.
Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine and Monster contains up to 160mg. Meanwhile, an average cup of coffee contains roughly 100mg of caffeine.
Consuming caffeine can trigger the release of noradrenaline and norepinephrine – two hormones that are known to boost your blood pressure and heart rate.
According to the Food Standards Agency, it is safe for healthy adults to consume 400mg of caffeine per day.
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Individuals with a rare heart problem called long QT syndrome (LQTS) are at risk of health problems after consuming the smallest amount of caffeine.
Cardiologist Dr Michael Ackerman said: “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.
“While the absolute risk of danger is very low for those without heart defects, the potential for harm to a fragile heart is higher.”
He added: “For my patients with LQTS or any genetic heart disease that is associated with sudden cardiac death, the appropriate dose of a highly caffeinated energy drink is 0 (zero).”
Pharmacist Abbas Kanani said: “Drinking caffeinated drinks too quickly may lead to breathing trouble, changes in alertness, agitation, confusion, hallucinations and even convulsions (seizures).
“Caffeine also stimulates the gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to an upset stomach, nausea and diarrhoea.”
