"One chip challenge" gone wrong?
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/05/massachusetts-teen-dies-spicy-tortilla-chip-pacqui
A 14-year-old boy from Massachusetts died unexpectedly a short time after he ate a particularly spicy tortilla chip, leaving his family grieving and searching for answers.
Harris Wolobah died on Friday, said a statement from officials at the Worcester public school district where the boy studied.
Harris’s cause of death had not been determined on Tuesday as results of his autopsy remained pending, but his relatives fear that complications from eating an extremely spicy tortilla chip from the manufacturer Pacqui were a factor, according to an online GoFundMe campaign meant to benefit his family.
The campaign’s organizer, who describes herself as a cousin of Harris, wrote: “The pain our family is experiencing is unimaginable.”
Pacqui did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company promotes a “one chip challenge” and invites consumers to publish videos of themselves on social media eating the product derived from two of the world’s hottest peppers.
Harris’s mother, Lois Wolobah, told the local television news outlet WBTS that her son was given a Pacqui chip by a fellow student at Doherty Memorial high school in Worcester, Massachusetts. Harris soon had an intense stomachache and went to the school nurse, who called his mother to pick him up.
Harris felt some relief after going home, but then he lost consciousness as he prepared to go try out for a basketball team, Lois Wolobah reportedly said.
After his brother found him passed out, Harris was brought to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead there.
I'll be interested in seeing what the post shows.
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/05/massachusetts-teen-dies-spicy-tortilla-chip-pacqui
A 14-year-old boy from Massachusetts died unexpectedly a short time after he ate a particularly spicy tortilla chip, leaving his family grieving and searching for answers.
Harris Wolobah died on Friday, said a statement from officials at the Worcester public school district where the boy studied.
Harris’s cause of death had not been determined on Tuesday as results of his autopsy remained pending, but his relatives fear that complications from eating an extremely spicy tortilla chip from the manufacturer Pacqui were a factor, according to an online GoFundMe campaign meant to benefit his family.
The campaign’s organizer, who describes herself as a cousin of Harris, wrote: “The pain our family is experiencing is unimaginable.”
Pacqui did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company promotes a “one chip challenge” and invites consumers to publish videos of themselves on social media eating the product derived from two of the world’s hottest peppers.
Harris’s mother, Lois Wolobah, told the local television news outlet WBTS that her son was given a Pacqui chip by a fellow student at Doherty Memorial high school in Worcester, Massachusetts. Harris soon had an intense stomachache and went to the school nurse, who called his mother to pick him up.
Harris felt some relief after going home, but then he lost consciousness as he prepared to go try out for a basketball team, Lois Wolobah reportedly said.
After his brother found him passed out, Harris was brought to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead there.
I'll be interested in seeing what the post shows.
@George-K said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
I'll be interested in seeing what the post shows.
https://apnews.com/article/paqui-spicy-chip-challenge-death-autopsy-f81c220c549ec497bcc626dec4fc2be4
A Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge on social media died from eating a large quantity of chile pepper extract and also had a congenital heart defect, according to autopsy results obtained by The Associated Press.
Harris Wolobah, a 10th grader from the city of Worcester, died on Sept. 1, 2023, after eating the Paqui chip as part of the manufacturer’s “One Chip Challenge.”
“We were and remain deeply saddened by the death of Harris Wolobah and extend our condolences to his family and friends,” Paqui, a Texas-based subsidiary of the Hershey Co., said in a statement Thursday. A phone number listed for Harris’ family was disconnected. The Associated Press left messages seeking comment with friends of the family.
Harris died of cardiopulmonary arrest “in the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration,” according to the autopsy from the Chief Office of the Medical Examiner. Capsaicin is the component that gives chile peppers their heat.
The autopsy also said that Harris had cardiomegaly, meaning an enlarged heart, and a congenital defect described as “myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending coronary artery.”
A myocardial bridge occurs when a segment of a major artery of the heart runs within the heart muscle instead of on its surface, according to Dr. James Udelson, chief of cardiology at Tufts Medical Center.
“It is possible that with significant stimulation of the heart, the muscle beyond the bridge suddenly had abnormal blood flow (‘ischemia’) and could have been a cause of a severe arrhythmia,” Udelson told the AP in an email. “There have been reports of acute toxicity with capsaicin causing ischemia of the heart muscle.”
Large doses of capsaicin can increase how the heart squeezes, putting extra pressure on the artery, noted Dr. Syed Haider, a cardiologist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
But while the autopsy results suggest that a heart defect probably made Harris more vulnerable to the negative effects of the chile pepper extract, people without underlying risk factors can also experience serious heart problems from ingesting large amounts of capsaicin, Haider said.
In the context of some abnormal cardiac vasculature (the "bridge") I can see how an ingestion of this chip could have raised his blood pressure, causing the heart to work harder. Increased "squeezing" of the heart narrows the left anterior descending artery (AKA "The widow maker artery") causing an MI.
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Things you can't possibly foresee. So sad. I suspect there are so many more abnormalities than are ever discovered.
@Mik said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
I suspect there are so many more abnormalities than are ever discovered
No kidding. When you start looking for stuff, you invariably find other stuff. There's always another worm to be found when you pick up the rock.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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I have one. In an ultrasound we discovered that I have abnormal carotids. On my right side they do not bifurcate - two separate ones going straight up. On my left I have only one. There is evidence that there may have been a bifurcation at one time but a trauma may have cause me to lose it. What does it bode for the future? No one knows. Maybe nothing.
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@Mik said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
I suspect there are so many more abnormalities than are ever discovered
No kidding. When you start looking for stuff, you invariably find other stuff. There's always another worm to be found when you pick up the rock.
@George-K said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
@Mik said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
I suspect there are so many more abnormalities than are ever discovered
No kidding. When you start looking for stuff, you invariably find other stuff. There's always another worm to be found when you pick up the rock.
With that in mind, should this chip even be manufactured? There is no redeeming factor in that capsaicin level, so why is it being approved by the FDA?
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I will defer to the medical people here, but my layman opinion is that the chip did not kill him.
(However, I also predict that the family lawyers will walk away with a lot of money, either by winning the lawsuit, or negotiating something with the company)
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I will defer to the medical people here, but my layman opinion is that the chip did not kill him.
(However, I also predict that the family lawyers will walk away with a lot of money, either by winning the lawsuit, or negotiating something with the company)
@taiwan_girl said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
my layman opinion is that the chip did not kill him
It is wholly possible that it did.
See my comment above:
In the context of some abnormal cardiac vasculature (the "bridge") I can see how an ingestion of this chip could have raised his blood pressure, causing the heart to work harder. Increased "squeezing" of the heart narrows the left anterior descending artery (AKA "The widow maker artery") causing an MI.
Think about it.
Your blood pressure shoots up because of the chip. Heart has to pump harder, muscle contracts harder, to maintain blood flow to the body.
One of the arteries that supplies blood and oxygen to the cardiac muscle is "buried" within the muscle, rather than lying on the surface as is normally the case.
Muscle squeezes, in squeezing it compresses the left anterior descending artery, basically obstructing it. Boom, heart attack.
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@taiwan_girl said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
my layman opinion is that the chip did not kill him
It is wholly possible that it did.
See my comment above:
In the context of some abnormal cardiac vasculature (the "bridge") I can see how an ingestion of this chip could have raised his blood pressure, causing the heart to work harder. Increased "squeezing" of the heart narrows the left anterior descending artery (AKA "The widow maker artery") causing an MI.
Think about it.
Your blood pressure shoots up because of the chip. Heart has to pump harder, muscle contracts harder, to maintain blood flow to the body.
One of the arteries that supplies blood and oxygen to the cardiac muscle is "buried" within the muscle, rather than lying on the surface as is normally the case.
Muscle squeezes, in squeezing it compresses the left anterior descending artery, basically obstructing it. Boom, heart attack.
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By the way, I've seen "intramuscular" coronary arteries. Surgeons hate them because they can be difficult to find, and are buried within the muscle. Need to be dug out. Generally a PITA.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K Good analysis George. But eventually, the only food available to people will be a high protein smoothie. LOL
@taiwan_girl said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
@George-K Good analysis George. But eventually, the only food available to people will be a high protein smoothie. LOL
Not at all. What’s the point of even having an FDA to provide approvals?
Small bits of arsenic won’t kill most people, so let’s have a 1 chip challenge…
The Brad
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By the way, I've seen "intramuscular" coronary arteries. Surgeons hate them because they can be difficult to find, and are buried within the muscle. Need to be dug out. Generally a PITA.
@George-K said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
By the way, I've seen "intramuscular" coronary arteries. Surgeons hate them because they can be difficult to find, and are buried within the muscle. Need to be dug out. Generally a PITA.
That would be wicked.
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@taiwan_girl said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
@George-K Good analysis George. But eventually, the only food available to people will be a high protein smoothie. LOL
Not at all. What’s the point of even having an FDA to provide approvals?
Small bits of arsenic won’t kill most people, so let’s have a 1 chip challenge…
@LuFins-Dad said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
@taiwan_girl said in "One chip challenge" gone wrong?:
@George-K Good analysis George. But eventually, the only food available to people will be a high protein smoothie. LOL
Not at all. What’s the point of even having an FDA to provide approvals?
Small bits of arsenic won’t kill most people, so let’s have a 1 chip challenge…
Rat poison is used medically every day ...
