He has no history of heart problems. He regularly walked his dog and did a job of physical demand as a construction worker, according to his doctors.
Then, in January 2019, it crashed into McDonald’s and died.
Potential culprit? Blake Licorice, who treated him and who published his findings about an unusual case in The New England Journal of Medicine this week.
The 54-year-old unidentified man from Massachusetts consumed one to two large bags of black licorice a day for three weeks, the report said. Due to this habit, his potassium level suddenly dropped, which suggested cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness after his fall and died about 24 hours after arriving at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“We almost didn’t believe it when we found it,” said Dr. Jacqueline b. Hanson, who treated the man while she was in the hospital. “We were all amazed and amazed.”
Aspiring doctors in medical school are taught that black licorice contains glyceric acid, a plant extract that is often used as a sweetener in candy and other foods and can lead to dangerously low potassium levels if consumed in large quantities. Dr .. Hansen said that it is rare to see someone die from eating too much candy.
According to his friends and family, the man in Massachusetts was on a poor diet and smoked one cigarette a day. But it turned from red to black lysoriasis three weeks before his death that doctors proved fatal.
Dr Hansen said she interviewed the man’s friends and family members, and doctors conducted multiple laboratory tests that confirmed the man’s potassium levels were lower than normal.
They studied his medical history, which included heroin use, although he had not used ipatiates for three years. There is no family history of cardiac disease or other conditions that can lead to low potassium levels, said Dr. Dur Hanson, a fellow at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C.
“We have no other clear reason why his potassium levels were so low,” he said.
The case “raises the issue of public health that taking large amounts of licorice can be dangerous to your health,” said a study and fellow fellow from the Interventional Cardiology Unit of Massachusetts General Hospital. Neil M. Butala said.
Dr Butla said consumers need to be informed about the levels of glyceric acid in their products by candy and other food manufacturers.
He also referred the case to the Food and Drug Administration.
In a statement, the FDA declined to comment specifically on the report, citing its policy of not discussing individual cases.
“The FDA is committed to protecting public health and ensuring the safety of our country’s food supply,” the agency said in an email. “We know that the naturally occurring compound found in black licorice can have an adverse effect on health.”
The FDA warns people 40 or older that eating two ounces of black licorice a day for at least two weeks can cause “heart rhythm or arrhythmia.”
The agency warns consumers on its website about the dangers posed by black licorice. The compound glycyrrhizin, which is derived from licorice root, can lower potassium levels in the body and lead to abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, edema, lethargy and heart failure, according to the agency.
The findings were carefully researched by doctors and should serve as a public health warning, said Dr. Tulane, a cardiologist at the University School of Medicine. Said Keith C. Ferdinand, who was not involved in the case and was reading an article in The New England Journal. Medicine.
“It was found to be a very unusual case,” he said, but warned the public to “be aware that any substance that is taken into the body, especially if taken in excess, can have real physical effects,” de Ferdinand said. Said. , Which is also the Gerald S. Berenson Android Chair in Preventive Cardiology.
“When a catastrophic event happens suddenly in a person it is always difficult to find the cause and effect,” he said.
But the factors in the case – low potassium, the patient’s heart arrhythmia, the fact that he was doing well until his fall – indicated that lyseris was “probably the source” of his final fatal condition, de Fer. Ferdinand said.
Other studies have sounded the alarm about drinking too much licorice. In 2012, doctors at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago published a study entitled “Licorice Abuse: Time to Warning Message.” Doctors advised patients to drink too much licorice and called on the FDA to control its use.
The study says, “Daily consumption of qualified ice juice is never justified because its benefits outweigh the adverse effects of long-term use.” It noted a 35-year-old Egyptian man with no internal health problems who temporarily lost control of his motor functions after drinking a liter of flavored water during Ramadan.
“There are a lot of products with licorice that are readily available in our daily use and people may inadvertently consume them in moderate amounts, putting them at risk of complications,” he noted.
Dr. Hansen said that people who occasionally like to eat a piece of leech are not afraid of the case in Massachusetts.
Black licorice is not a poison, he said.
“Those fines are taken in small amounts, frequently,” said Dr. Hanson. “But when taken on a regular basis it can lead to these problems.”
