Man, 22, dies after downing a bottle of fizzy drink too fast – to cool off in hot weather

A 22-year-old man died after downing a bottle of fizzy drink too fast in order to cool off in the hot weather, doctors say.

Medics in China attempted to save the unlucky lad, but he died less than a day later. 

Describing the case report in , they said the man had guzzled 1.5 litres of Coca Cola in the space of ten minutes due to hot weather.

After four hours of experiencing pain in the stomach, he was sent to the hospital for “emergency treatment”.

The man - who has not been unnamed - was otherwise in a fit condition, with no history of medical conditions like diabetes.

But his vital signs were not stable. He had a raised temperature, heart rate and low blood pressure.

A CT scan showed the young man had “extensive portal vein pneumatosis”.

Pneumatosis is when there are gas bubbles in the bowel walls, while the portal vein runs from the bowel to the liver, carrying blood.

The doctors said because of this, the liver was not getting enough blood and oxygen.

Treatment was started immediately, primarily to suck the gas out of the man’s body with the use of anti-inflammatories and medicines to help the liver.

After 12 hours the man was reassessed and he had become more unstable.

Doctors gave norepinephrine, a drug used in emergencies to treat life-threatening low blood pressure or during CPR.

“Finally, the patient died 18h after the treatment,” Shaocheng Lyi and colleagues of the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, reported. 

“In this case, drinking a large amount of Coca Cola in a short period of time caused gas accumulation in the intestinal tract at first. 

“Then the intestinal pressure got a sudden rise, which resulted in the high pressure and led to the gas accumulation in the portal vein subsequently. Finally,the patient died of it.”

The doctors admitted a gas buildup implicating the liver is “rare”.

But other experts are suspicious the man’s death was caused by rapidly consuming fizzy drink at all.

Professor Nathan Davies, a biochemist at University College London, said it was “staggeringly unlikely”.

He speculated it may have been a  bacterial infection that caused the gas pockets to form.

Prof Davies told MailOnline: “Usually this type of condition is caused because you have bacteria that has made its way from the normal gastrointestinal tract to somewhere they are not supposed to be, in this case, in the lining of the small intestine.

“It's possible, but not necessarily likely, that drinking a large amount of carbonated drink could have had an exacerbating effect,' he said. 

“But with no underlying condition it is very hard to see what could have happened.”

However, Prof Davies did urge against drinking large amounts of soft sugary drinks, as these can have consequences for weight and teeth.

Coca Cola GB was contacted by The Sun for comment.