16-Year-Old Girl Dies Of Suspected Heart Attack

noZme

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
4,238
Reaction score
98
Heartbroken and stunned, the friends of Lanna Hamann cannot believe that the healthy and athletic 16-year-old died this weekend of cardiac arrest.

It's rare for someone so young to die of a heart attack.

In the hours leading up to her death, she had consumed "energy drinks".

Valley cardiologist Jack Wolfson said the likely culprit in this case was high levels of caffeine and sugar in energy drinks.

"There is medical evidence that these things do harm, they can cause changes in the heart rhythm, and impact blood pressure," he said.

Wolfson said that simply put, energy drinks are not safe.

"These drinks should be regulated as alcohol is, no one under the age of 21 should be allowed to have these drinks,"

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/25814234/2014/06/18/16-year-old

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...a-teen-dies-mexico-vacation-article-1.1839141

http://time.com/2894272/social-media-campaign-takes-aim-at-red-bull-following-teens-death/
 
Omy, this is really sad. Too many kids drink energy drinks instead of water.
 
I kid you not, I saw a 8-9 year old with a monster energy drink at the park!

So sad for her family and friends :(
 
So sorry for this family -- makes you wonder if she ever felt odd before this happened and simply didn't realize the cause.

I have a nephew who downs energy drinks left & right and is always sick to his stomach -- we have been telling him constantly it's those drinks! Do kids these days listen? Nooooooooooooooo -- we old people don't know anything! He'll give it a break for a day or two and decide "the bug" has passed and he's right back at it! I'll be sure to mention this to him (though he'll probably think it's an urban myth or old wives' tale).

I know sometimes these things happen and it may have nothing to do with her consumption of energy drinks, but I also believe that sometimes we are consumer sheep, too eager to believe that if it is on the shelves for consumption that it must be safe (when clearly that is not the case).
 
I kid you not, I saw a 8-9 year old with a monster energy drink at the park!

So sad for her family and friends :(

That I simply do NOT understand. My kids harp on me because "Daddy lets me" drink coffee (as in, light on the coffee, heavy on the cream) and I tell them no -- who wants their 8-9 year old hopped up on caffeine and extra sugar? I have enough trouble wearing them out (while still being able to function through the evening routine myself). Not to mention it's just not good for them.
 
Energy drinks will do it, so will cocaine. That's why sometimes you see strokes in young people.
 
Energy drinks will do it, so will cocaine. That's why sometimes you see strokes in young people.

Unfortunately the reason is sometimes juvenile cardiovascular disease as well.

I get what you're saying though.

These days our kids (and by that I mean society's kids, not your kids specifically, fellow WSers) find themselves 1) genetically predisposed; or, 2) fed fast food for bkfast, lunch, & dinner; or, 3) fed crap that is marketed as "healthy"; or 4) fed supplements and rehydration products sold as "safe"; or 5) regularly escape through substance use

OR

all of the above.

I guess I now have to tell my kids that ON TOP of the "no alcohol, no lighting/smoking of any substance, no pills, nothing up the nose, nothing through a needle, no vapors/gases" etc, etc, etc... DO NOT EAT OR DRINK A THING without clearing it with me first...
 
OK- there is a difference between 'cardiac arrest' and 'heart attack'.

Cardiac arrest is just that- the heart either stops beating (asystole) OR quivers instead of pumping blood in a coordinated manner (this quivering is called V-fib or ventricular fibrillation).

A 'heart attack' (or properly myocardial infarction or MI) is when the heart muscle itself is starved for oxygen because the blood supply is interrupted- usually due to a clot in the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle itself with blood.

Here's the tricky part: A 'heart attack' can CAUSE cardiac arrest. Sometimes. But cardiac arrest can be caused by many other things (electrocution, certain drugs, lethal arrythmias, etc.)

Bottom line: not everyone who suffers 'cardiac arrest' has had a 'heart attack' AND not everyone that has a 'heart attack' will suffer from 'cardiac arrest'.

Sorry- the critical care nurse in me sometimes takes over.......
 
I've had a cup of coffee and drinks lots of diet cola, but never had an energy drink. My 15 year old grand daughter tries to sneak one in the basket at the grocery store, and likes them, but I refuse to buy. Do they give lots more energy than a cup of coffee or cola would? I don't get why they are so popular.
 
I tried to tell my 26 year old son not to drink those things...it wasn't until he had an episode of his own (that scared the poop out of him) that he stopped, on his own.
 
Sorry- the critical care nurse in me sometimes takes over.......


lol, meanmaryjean, I am also a nurse (formerly worked in CCU) and had the temptation to write the same post, but you beat me to it and said it better than I would have.
 
I've had a cup of coffee and drinks lots of diet cola, but never had an energy drink. My 15 year old grand daughter tries to sneak one in the basket at the grocery store, and likes them, but I refuse to buy. Do they give lots more energy than a cup of coffee or cola would? I don't get why they are so popular.
Yes. I prefer the 5 hour energy power shots over drinks like Monster, Rock Star and Red Bull. I've tried them all. The latter ones are too powerful- gets me weak & shaky and heart beating strongly, and I can't finish a whole huge can. I will go get a 5 hour energy drink when I am exhausted but have to drive my daughter places. It gives me more caffeine than a cup of coffee or a coke, so that I can function, but I'm not overly hyper. You just have to time drinking them so that your 5 hours will wear off by bedtime.
 
You're kidding me. And my ex used to make me feel so "psycho" for worrying about her when she would mix endless amounts of alcohol and energy drinks. I hate those Fourloko things and I'm trying to get my girlfriends nephew to stop drinking them incessantly but no one ever wants to listen. My manager drinks 2 Rockstars a day...makes my stomach pucker just thinking about it. So senseless and tragic.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
97
Guests online
759
Total visitors
856

Forum statistics

Threads
589,927
Messages
17,927,755
Members
228,002
Latest member
zipperoni
Back
Top