A Man Drank Suspicious Coconut Water For Lunch. This
Is What Happened To His Brain. AC is a 39 year old man, presenting to the
emergency room, unconscious. Paramedics tell the admitting nurse that they
found him in his house sweaty, nauseous, with pale skin, and laying down in a crooked position. Earlier that day, AC was living his regular
life. He was hungry for some food and when he looked, he found a Sweet Young Coconut,
sitting on his kitchen counter. This coconut isn’t like the hairy regular ones you find
in the produce section at the grocery. It’s shaved and found in the refrigerated section.
It’s the one you buy to get delicious Coconut water from. The low temperature of the refrigeration
helps limit microbial growth, and that’s important because some bacteria and fungi
enjoy and thrive on the natural juices of this fruit. But, AC wasn’t aware. He remembered
that he had been seeing this particular coconut on his kitchen counter for at least the last
month, as he poked the pre-made hole in, and started drinking. Immediately as the coconut water touched his
tongue, he knew something was wrong. The taste was so terrible that he spat it out, but not
before he swallowed some of it. He noticed there was a smell coming from inside the fruit.
He tried cutting it open, and when he could finally look inside, he saw it was slimy and
rotten, as showed it to his wife, and threw it away. He kept rinsing out his mouth because
the taste lingering in his mouth was so awful, but he was sure he completely washed it out. As the hours passed, AC started feeling funny.
At first, he noticed he was sweating, but the room wasn’t really that hot. He felt
his palms were kind of damp, maybe a little clammy. In the bathroom now, AC could feel
a tinge in his cheeks, as a sour taste rushed into his mouth from under his tongue, and he emptied his stomach
in to the toilet in a way like never before. Unsure of what was happening, he looked in
the mirror and noticed that his complexion was pale and gray, but the image that he saw in
the mirror was starting to not make sense. As he stumbles out of the bathroom, he loses
his balance. On the floor now in a crooked position, not knowing where he was, not knowing
what was happening, he was able to summon enough strength to call for 911. In the ambulance,
paramedics noticed that AC could still respond to questions, but it took him some time before
he could speak his response. But as he’s brought to the emergency room, AC becomes
unresponsive. At examination, doctors found that AC’s
heart was still beating but his blood pressure was high. When they shined a light into his
eyes, his pupils could still react and constrict. All of this meaning that at least one part
of his brain was still functioning, for now. A blood test finds that AC has metabolic acidosis.
Acid in this context being a waste product of metabolism, or cellular activity, but more
formally known as the concentration of hydrogen ions in his blood and -osis meaning a disorder
of. A disorder of excess acid due to cell activity, but which cells are doing this? The medical team notices that AC’s forearms
and his calves would randomly jerk. Given that he was found by paramedics in a twisted
and crooked position, there could be something wrong with his muscles, but the nervous system
controls the muscles, so which one has the problem? In the intensive care unit, AC’s body temperature
is now higher than when he presented to the emergency room. If 1) he has acid in
his blood because of abnormal metabolic activity, 2) he quickly became unconscious in the ambulance,
3) his muscles are twitching randomly, and 4) he now has a fever, then this could mean
that AC has an infection that’s somehow affecting his brain called meningitis. -itis
meaning inflammation of the meninges, layers of membranes surrounding the brain and the
metabolic activity causing acidosis might be from a problem with his cells in reaction
to the fact that bacteria is now growing in his nerves and his brain. But how can the
medical team be sure that this is what’s happening? Doctors send a needle into his back to collect
cerebrospinal fluid to test. If bacteria is infecting his brain, this fluid should give
some clues that something is growing inside. But time is quickly running out. The medical
team doesnt know for sure if he has an infection. They start him on antibiotics in hopes that
if this is an infection, some of the bacteria can start to be handled immediately. What doctors also don’t know about, is the
suspicious coconut water that AC drank. He couldnt tell them about it because he was
unconscious. His wife told doctors that AC had showed her a rotten coconut just hours
before she found him crooked and sweaty on the floor. And this gives doctors some clues
as to what’s happening because as the labs return for the cerebrospinal fluid, it looks
like there isn't any infection in AC’s brain at all. When a fruit becomes rotten, it's anyone's
guess as to what kind of bacteria and fungus were growing and thriving inside. In medical
literature, rotten coconuts and corn have been associated with Bongkrekic Acid, a mitochondrial
toxin that’s made by Burkholderia bacteria, which sometimes appears as a result of incomplete
fermentation. This gives us a couple of clues. First is that a rotten coconut that’s slimy
on the inside likely has bacteria and other microbes growing in it. If AC consumed part
of rotten fruit, and that particular fruit had microbes growing in it, and those microbes
can produce mitochondrial toxins, and the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
but can’t be, because a toxin is prevent it from performing cellular metabolism, resulting
in AC’s metabolic acidosis, then all of this should make sense. Except, when the coconut
was tested, the lab couldn’t find any Burkholderia bacteria. They tried multiple different tests,
and even tried to look for bongkrekic acid itself, but none of it was found. An MRI of AC’s brain reveals that fluid
has been swelling into his brain, particularly in the parts that control movement, learning,
and memory. A blood test finds that he has hyperammonemia. Hyper meaning high. Ammon
referring to ammonia, a chemical made as a result of the body breaking down proteins,
and -emia meaning presence in blood. High ammonia presence in blood. Proteins are large compared to simple chemicals.
They’re long chains of simple chemicals, so the body can chop them down, to digest
and handle them. Gut bacteria do that digestion. Each chain link in any protein are called
amino acids. Amino, referring to the chemical group, amine, which contains Nitrogen. Life
on earth all require nitrogen. It’s why you hear needing Nitrogen in the soil with
fertilizer, and from an ecosystem perspective, the exoskeleton on some bugs contains chitin,
which is a significant container of nitrogen. If nitrogen is the essential part of AMINEo
acids, which is what proteins are made of, and the body needs to break down those proteins
to get the nitrogen in order the function, then it makes sense why our bodies normally
make Ammonia, because that’s the simplest nitrogen chemical that can exist, but it also
makes sense as to why AC has hyperammonemia. The liver requires a lot of energy to function.
If AC somehow ingested a mitochondrial toxin from suspicious, rotten, coconut water, it
could prevent his liver cells from producing the energy needed to handle Ammonia flowing
in from his gut. AC’s brain, also an organ needing lots of energy to function, was already
impaired because of the toxin, but as extra ammonia starts floating around in his blood,
because his liver has shut down, it gets in to the brain. It causes fluid to start to
swell in, meaning as AC’s brain starts shutting down, his liver shutting down makes it even
worse. But it’s not his only problem. The same blood test finds that parts of AC’s
muscles have broken off and started spilling in to his blood, likely because his brain
had trouble controlling the contraction and relaxation of his muscles, and because muscle
tissue is also energy dependent, this should make sense. Those muscle remnants collect
in his kidneys and rip apart the tubules, causing his kidneys to shut down too. The medical team notes, AC doesnt have meningitis.
He doesnt appear to have any bacterial infection. The rotten coconut from where he took a sip
of the suspicious water also didn’t have the Burkholderia bacteria that would make
the bongkrekic acid mitochondrial toxin that could cause all of his problems. But given
that his brain is swelling with fluid, his liver has shut down and allowed ammonia to
spill everywhere in his blood, parts of his muscles have sloughed off and are now floating
around in his blood causing his kidneys to shut down, what else could have been in that
coconut? In the lab, further examination of the coconut
finds the presence of the fungus Arthrinium saccharicola, known to produce the toxin 3-nitro
propionic acid. In the mitochondria, this toxin is shaped like a chemical that’s normally
used to help produce ATP for energy. When the toxin is present, instead of the mitochondria
using the normal chemical, the 3-nitropropionic acid slides in and prevents energy production.
As cells of the brain, especially in the areas that control movement, start to panic and
run out of energy, some of those cells start to die. Muscles cant be controlled properly
anymore and they dont have sufficient energy to function, as they start to float around
in the blood. The liver cells also start to die quickly, and ammonia can’t be handled
anymore, causing the brain to swell even more. All of this happening because AC unfortunately
drank suspicious water from a rotten coconut, that had mold growing in it. 24 hours after AC presented to the emergency
room, a scan of his brain showed severe swelling. Because the brain is enclosed inside a hard
space, the skull, there’s only a limited amount of space for it to swell before it
starts to crush up against the sides of the skull and ooze through the sutures, or the
cracks in the skull. And on the scan, it looks like this brain herniation was impending.
AC’s pupils no longer responded to light, reflexes that would show that his brainstem
still conducted and communicated signals in the body, were no longer in tact. AC could
no longer breathe for himself and at 26 hours after admission, the medical team needed to
make a decision with his wife whether to continue treatment. When it comes to food, especially fresh produce
fruits and vegetables, it’s important to keep them fresh. If they need to be refrigerated,
refrigerate them. Be cautious with expiration dates, that’s not to say go overboard and
throw everything in sight away because you heard of one video online talking about someone
getting catastrophically ill from drinking suspicious coconut water, but if something
smells weird, looks weird, tastes weird, just be careful. Sometimes, it isn’t even the
bacteria or fungus growing on the food that can cause problems, but the fact that those
microbes could produce chemicals that are toxic to humans, that is what can cause issues.
It’s not common, and sometimes accidents happen, and relatively exotic things, like
drinking from a coconut can lead to mistakes, just like AC’s case. At autopsy, bleeding was found in AC’s brain.
Reexamination of the coconut and a sample of his blood found the 3 nitro propionic acid
mitochondrial toxin that was responsible for everything that happened to him. This toxin
was something made by the Arthrinium saccharicola fungus that was found in the rotten coconut
from which AC had a drink of this suspicious water. Thanks so much for watching. Take care of
yourself. And be well.
One of the saddest chubbyemu videos imo. They did almost every thing correct except for drinking an expired coconut, yet he still died in a flash.
Where do I recognize the music from?
A man used a 'product' called 'Manscaped' to shave his Scrotum. Now R.I. a 24 year old male presents himself to the emergency room with chronic itchy balls. Paramedics told him to remain calm but he could not stop itching, now there is almost nothing left... Earlier in the day he saw an ad for Manscaped, intrigued he bought, he waited for the product to arrive, but when it did he made a FATAL mistake by using it NON IRONICALLY... It was fine for the first hour, sure, initially it felt good, but then he begun to feel something no nail could scratch. It was like something was trying to escape from his insides... from insides his his balls... (Please send me money to continue)
This video just took a dark turn real fast. I was really hoping that the guy would survive
If they knew exactly what it was from the start, would they have been able to save him?