A woman is claiming that her husband developed brain hemorrhaging due to his excessive consumption of energy drinks, leaving him with a hole in his skull. Their story shows the potential dangers of excessive energy drink consumption.
Excessive Consumption Of Energy Drinks
In an already deleted Facebook post, a woman shared her family's ordeal after her husband suffered serious brain hemorrhaging from excessive energy drink consumption while she was preparing to give birth to their son.
According to the post by a woman named Brianna, she was woken up by her mother-in-law one morning, saying that her husband, Austin, had an accident and was in the hospital. She rushed to the hospital not knowing what kind of accident her husband had gotten into, only to find out from the doctors that Austin was suffering from a brain hemorrhage. After ruling out drug use, doctors concluded that his recent excessive energy drink consumption was the likely culprit.
Austin was rushed into a five-hour surgery that day, and again for the second round of surgery the next day, followed by strokes, swelling, and seizures. Soon after, Austin woke up when Brianna gave birth to their son. However, they were unable to see each other for a week following the delivery.
Folks...here is a reason to kick the #energydrink habit. Please.. fill your body up with water, juice..natural https://t.co/rwKflIw6Nj
— VeganLifer (@sista7668) Oct. 13, 2017
The post goes on to describe how the new mother supported her husband through more surgeries, and even as hospital trips and doctor's appointments continued. She helps him with personal hygiene and with his occupational, speech, and physical therapy, all while taking care of their child.
The Potential Dangers Of Energy Drinks
By definition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes energy drinks as beverages that typically contain large amounts of caffeine, sugars, additives, and legal stimulants such as taurine, L-carnitine, and guarana. Though such beverages can provide extra energy boost, they are also said to be potentially dangerous to the nervous system. Further, they can also cause dehydration, heart complications, insomnia, and anxiety.
Among adolescents aged 12 to 18, the CDC recommends a daily caffeine consumption of not more than 100 mg a day which is approximately the amount of caffeine in a single cup of coffee, while most adults can safely consume up to 400 mg of caffeine a day.
A 2012 report on the caffeine content of energy drinks states that the products' caffeine content ranges from 6 to 242 mg. Interestingly, out of the 27 products tested, 11 of them did not specify the amount of caffeine in the product. In this regard, a representative of Monster Beverage Corporation stated that there is no legal requirement for companies to label their products' caffeine content, and that the actual numbers are not particularly relevant to consumers. Further, the representative also clarified that their products are completely safe.
The original post from Brianna has since been deleted, and the couple has evidently declined to do any interviews, but in the original post, it was mentioned that Austin supposedly began drinking excessive amounts of energy drinks when he began working longer hours.
Though no specific details were given regarding Austin's daily energy drink consumption as well as the actual diagnosis, the claims open yet again the question of how safe it is to consume energy drinks. Perhaps, as with most things, moderation is the key to enjoying the things we love or even need in order to perform duties properly, while minimizing the hazards.
