Davis Allen hell healthy South Carolina teen, downed a mountain Dew, latte and energy drink, and then suddenly died last year.
It is a mixture of drinks, according to South Carolina coroner, leading to “caffeine-induced cardiac event is probable arrhythmia.”
Hell, untimely and highly unusual cause of death raised questions about an overdose of caffeine and whether it is now easier than ever to succumb to it.
It’s true that caffeinated drinks have become more concerned about health — we know that the number of applications for emergency medical care involving energy drinks has increased dramatically in recent years. And doctors say children and Teens should not consume energy drinks because of health risks from caffeine and other stimulants in them.
But overdose of caffeine is extremely rare and typically involves high doses of caffeine in pill or powder form, not including drinks. “Caffeine, alcohol, marijuana — they are legal drugs,” Alex said Wayne Jones, a toxicologist at the University of linköping in Sweden, who studied caffeine overdose in may last year. “The safest of the three is caffeine.” Here’s what you should know about the risks of caffeine consumption and how not to overdo it.
The health benefits of caffeine and risks
Caffeine is a stimulant of the Central nervous system, and about 90 percent of adults in the world consume it in tea, coffee, soda and other drinks daily.
This legal drug can increase alertness, cognitive function, and even improve short-term memory. Coffee consumption is also associated with a number of other health benefits including reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes type 2 diabetes. (So the most recent U.S. dietary guidelines have suggested that drinking three to five cups a day can actually be part of a healthy diet.)
In the United States, we average about two cups of coffee — that total 100 to 200 mg of caffeine a day. (One serving of energy drink can have anywhere between 50 mg and 300 mg, and a can of soda usually contains less than 70 mg).
Above 400 mg per day, the recommended dose for adults, can cause unpleasant side effects that are probably familiar to you: jitteriness, insomnia, irritability. (American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children from 12 to 18 years will remain below 100 mg of caffeine per day, or one Cup of coffee.) This is because caffeine can speed up heart rate and disrupt blood flow in the body, which in extreme cases can be fatal.
Surely you’ve noticed that some people can drink six cups of coffee or more without any real negative consequences, while others get too jittery on one Cup. The reason? Some of us are genetically predisposed to be more sensitive to caffeine than other. Any major health problems (particularly heart), and medications or other drugs, may also trigger more severe reactions to caffeine. And if You are a constant consumer of caffeine, you can probably tolerate less caffeine than habitual users.
How much caffeine is fatal?
At toxic levels — we’re talking 30 cups of coffee consumed in a short period of time, the symptoms are much more serious: vomiting, abdominal pain, change of consciousness and even seizures.
Death by caffeine, as in the case of hell, it is usually caused by ventricular fibrillation — rapid and irregular heartbeat that disrupts the flow, which leads to a decrease in blood pressure, loss of consciousness and death.
But, as Tara Haelle wrote in Forbes, these reactions are very rarely drinks. (One expert told her: “I never knew a case where someone died from three caffeinated drinks.”)
According to the medical literature review, was only 45 caffeine-related deaths in the period from 1959 to 2010. Later (2017) study (Sweden Jones) found 51 — but and incredibly high levels of caffeine in the blood of victims.
One Cup of coffee that contains 100 mg of caffeine, caffeine brings blood to approximately 5 or 6 mg/l in the blood of people who died from an overdose of caffeine, according to the 2017 securities, the average of 180 mg/l, therefore, consumed 30 cups of coffee in quick succession it will take until those lethal levels.
Energy drinks typically contain more caffeine than coffee, at least in theory, easier to overdose on. Generously caffeine energy drink can contain 300 mg of caffeine so one has to drink 10 quickly reaches a lethal level in the blood stimulant. These drinks also contain these combinations that researchers are more worried about (but do not fully understand), especially when mixed drinks, alcohol mixed with other stimulants such as guarana, taurine and L-carnitine, and is.
Powdered caffeine poses a real threat to health
Even so, medical complications from energy drinks are still a rarity. Jones 2017 research on caffeine overdose, about half of the deaths were suicides — and all involved caffeine in pill or powder form, leading Jones to conclude, “it doesn’t seem likely that toxic concentrations of caffeine you can get from excessive consumption of caffeinated drinks alone.”
In contrast, caffeine supplements such as powdered caffeine, a pack of mega-doses of caffeine, much higher than what you usually get from a Cup of coffee or energy drink. They are probably the most dangerous form of caffeine, and the most likely to lead to serious health problems.
According to the FDA, caffeine powder pure caffeine and a teaspoon of material is approximately equivalent to 28 cups of coffee. It’s pretty much toxic levels in one teaspoon, which even in small quantities this substance can cause symptoms much more serious than what you would get from drinking too many cups of coffee or tea.
Jeffrey Goldberg, a University of Miami cardiologist and expert on the health effects of caffeine, the estimated maximum potential amount of caffeine damn it enters the body of the three drinks was about 500 mg. “It usually do not fall in the range where people say it’s lethal,” said he, adding that he was skeptical of caffeine was the cause of death. Instead, he thinks there must have been another unrecognized public health problem in the game, or that it could just be one of the rare cases of sudden death at a young age.
“I think it’s important to be aware of,” Goldberger said, “that caffeine is generally safe at the doses most people consume. But he has the potential to be dangerous at very high doses, and there are people who have some feelings for him.”
The bottom line: if you stick to the usual coffee, tea and a strange energy drink and not chug these drinks in Titanic doses, you have to be very good.
Sourse: vox.com
