Caffeine is not an illegal drug and is easily accessible, but if consumed in large quantities, it can have similar effects to a drug overdose. A 16-year-old teen recently died from a caffeine overdose when he consumed soft drinks, coffee, and an energy drink, which caused him a heart attack.
According to NBC News, Davis Allen Cripe consumed a large diet Mountain Dew, a café latte from Mc Donalds, and some type of energy drink. This mix of drinks caused the teen to collapse and die within two hours of drinking all of this.
Richland County coroner Gary Watts, there was so much caffeine in his system at the time of his death, that caused him arrhythmia, which is the improper beating of the heart. “The autopsy was performed and there was nothing there to indicate any type of…undiagnosed heart condition,” he said.
This isn’t the first time that energy drinks have posed health risks and research shows that these drinks can cause dangerous changes in heart function and raise your blood pressure to dangerous levels.
When a medical examiner and forensic toxicologist examined the teen, they found that based on his weight, the intake of caffeine had exceeded what is considered a safe level. The Food and Drug Administration had said that caffeine in doses up to 400 mg (about five cups of coffee) is generally safe, yet not recommended.
“The purpose here today is not to slam Mountain Dew, not to slam café lattes or energy drinks. But what we want to do is to make people understand that these drinks—this amount of caffeine, how it’s ingested, can have dire consequences. And that’s what happened in this case,” said Watts at a news conference.
Caffeine can prompt the release of natural compounds called catecholamine, including norepinephrine, a stress hormone that can speed the heart rate. Caffeine overdoses like this one can cause irregular and rapid heart rates and seizures among other symptoms.
“Davis, like so many other kids and so many other people out there today, were doing something that they thought was totally harmless, and that was ingesting lots of caffeine,” Watts said.