What started as a sugar craving became a dangerous addiction with health consequences for a man who consumed 7 liters of soda for an entire decade.
The case of the man, known as BA, has been featured in an episode of the YouTube channel Chubbyemu that spreads awareness by sharing medical incidents.
BA, 48, was sent to the ER “with sudden onset weakness.”
Until the age of 30, he was leading a rather healthy life but he then took a new job at a company where there was “free, unlimited soda for employees to drink.”
Over time, he got addicted to the sugary drink and the more he had it, the thirstier he got. What’s more, he would always wake up feeling extremely thirsty and instead of having water, he would drink more soda.
Eventually, he developed “short of breath,” stomach ache, and brain fog that ultimately led to “stuttering and slurring his words.”
One day, he was found unconscious at his desk at work and rushed to the hospital where they discovered his sugar levels were so high that he entered a diabetic coma.
At the time, he didn’t tell the doctors about his soda drinking habit because he thought it was irrelevant.
He was sent home with proper medications for his high blood sugar, his high blood pressure, and his cholesterol.
On the way home, he got himself a few cans of soda, unaware it was what made him sick in the first place.
Soon after, he collapsed again.
Doctors discovered his potassium levels were extremely high, his muscles were “spilling their contents out,” a condition known as “rhabdomyolysis,” and his kidneys were also “shutting down.”
Feeling unwell, he called his wife to bring him some soda to help him with his thirst and his massive headache. Looking at him drinking the soda, a student realized the consumption of the drink could be behind BA’s condition.
“In the kidneys, huge excess sugar from drinking one to two gallons of soda every day for 10 years can make it harder to absorb water because the water will want to stay with the sugar,” his doctor explained.
The caffeine in the soda interfered with blood flow and water balance, causing BA’s body to dehydrate and his kidneys to fail.
He was told to stop drinking the soft drink, and once he was able to break his habit, his potassium levels returned to normal, his renal function improved, and his muscle weakness disappeared.
Speaking of BA’s case and the health consequences of drinking too much soda, the doctor explained, “So take the study results with what you will. Type 2 diabetes and all its comorbidities like heart problems and nerve damage. Hypokalemia and all its consequences and kidney stones are what we’re thinking of when we’re speaking of excess chronic soda ingestion.”
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