Too much iced tea caused Arkansas man's kidney problems

[Omaha Steve]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by DonViejo (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: AP

BY MIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) -- Doctors traced an Arkansas man's kidney failure to an unusual cause - his habit of drinking a gallon of iced tea each day.

They ruled out several potential causes before stumbling on a reason for the 56-year-old man's kidney problems. He said he drank about 16 8-ounce cups of iced tea every day. Black tea has a chemical known to cause kidney stones or even kidney failure in excessive amounts.

"It was the only reasonable explanation," said Dr. Umbar Ghaffar of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. She and two other doctors describe the case in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

The unidentified man went to the hospital last May with nausea, weakness, fatigue and body aches. Doctors determined his kidneys were badly clogged and inflamed by the food chemical called oxalate. The man is on dialysis, perhaps for the rest of his life, Ghaffar said

FULL story at link.



This May 21, 2007 file photo shows a glass of iced tea in Concord, N.H. Doctors have traced an Arkansas man's kidney failure to an unusual cause — his habit of drinking a gallon of iced tea each day. He said he drank about 16 8-ounce cups of iced tea every day. Black tea has the chemical oxalate which known to cause kidney stones or even kidney failure in excessive amounts. The man is on dialysis, perhaps for the rest of his life. The case report is in the Thursday, April 2, 2015 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_TOO_MUCH_ICED_TEA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

---

I drink at least 1/2 pitcher a day. But I don't drink black tea. Since I'm terminal anyway, I don't care.

[merrily]

1. Omaha Steve, I had no idea.

I didn't notice the end of your post when I first replied. I am so very sorry.

Your posts mean so much to me.

To hell with my original reply about pineapple and coffee.

[Omaha Steve]

8. I missed it

[merrily]

13. No worries. It was about kidney stones, but your personal comment is much more important.

I appreciate your posts so much. You are a warrior for unions and workers like no other on this board.

(In case you're curious, the first reply was that pineapple being a factor in some kidney stones, coffee in others and salt in all.)

[Gore1FL]

2. Stick to Bourbon. n/t

[haikugal]

3. Wow...

I drink almost a pot a day, sometimes half a pot. I make a lovely ice tea with Hibiscus petals and spices. It helps with my blood pressure and is delishious. My son and I drink it all summer....no sweetener needed.

I'm sorry to hear you're so ill Steve...you're in my thoughts.

[2naSalit]

24. It does matter what your tea is made of

like the orange pekoe that is made into black tea. In moderation it's fine and even therapeutic for some ailments but if it's the only thing you drink all day, every day for years, you're gonna have problems.

I just lost a good friend two weeks ago who didn't drink water and drank mostly coffee, soda or beer/liquor, and smoked cigarettes and had a crappy diet... he died from complications involving renal failure, liver failure and possible hep-C. Nasty, but he wasn't sick for long, took about a week once he got to the point he needed to go to a doctor in his estimation.

If you are making tea with hibiscus and other herbs, you probably don't have to worry about suffering such a fate... unless other factors are at play. Herbs can be really good for you, I don't' think this is what was going on with the guy in the article though.

[haikugal]

29. Thanks..

I wasn't worried about myself. I drink a lot of water. I was surprised that tea (black) could be so damaging. I'm sorry about your friend but he does sound like a warning of what not to do. Yes I use a lot of herbs and have a fairly good diet considering. I'm glad your friend didn't suffer for long.

[Thinkingabout]

4. That's a lot of tea, i need to up my intake of fliuds, just not thirsty.

[DeSwiss]

5. ....

“Everything in moderation, including moderation.” ― Oscar Wilde

The Power of RAW Cannabis

[yuiyoshida]

6. I prefer Asian teas, especially

ITOEN oi Ocha .. green tea. Love it, and its supposed to be great for your health. Japanese have been drinking green tea for hundreds of years.. I also love some Chinese teas, like Oolong, Pu Erh and Ti Kuan Yin. I have black tea but rarely drink it as its too strong for me.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. At this moment,

I have a bottle of the "Oi O-cha, koi aji" (お~いお茶　濃い味 ) sitting on my desk

I've also got a potful of Pu Erh (プーアール茶　　 tea at home.

[yuiyoshida]

16. At this moment...

I am drinking Ito En Oi Ocha... its so yummy, I bought four big bottles of it! I love it! Itadakimasu!!!!

[7962]

39. Available in regular stores or where? I'd like to try it

[PoliticAverse]

7. I'll add this to the 'everything in moderation' examples n/t

[mike dub]

9. Sweet or Unsweet?

I'm assuming it was traditional Southern sweet tea, not unsweet (which some of us Southerners request). Or would sweet vs unsweet matter at such high volumes?

[Thor_MN]

15. It's the oxalate in the tea that wrecked his kidneys.

Sweet tea would be a lot of extra calories, but not the problem.

[2naSalit]

25. unless it was

an artificial sweetener, at those levels, could have had an impact as would plain old white granulated sugar. Just too much of too much in this case, probably wouldn't matter much since a constant diet of something rarely turns out well in the long run.

[Thor_MN]

37. Except that the doctors (who know a couple things) said that it was the oxalate

Why do you feel the need to question the doctor's diagnosis? Are you an MD? Have you examined the man? Did you analyze samples from his body?

Well, I didn't do any of those, so I'm going to go with what the doctors said.

Feel free to accuse me, the doctors, any anyone who will listen of being in bed with the companies that make sweeteners, because "Folla da monee!!!1!!1!! Herp derp garble bargle!!"

[2naSalit]

43. Don't recall

questioning what the Drs claim just adding other possible factors. You can keep your snarky accusations to yourself. Chill out, why so offended at my suggestion that there are other possible factors beyond what was reported? Just because you swallowed everything the article claims without questioning doesn't mean that you or they are experts on the subject discussed. I never claimed to be a certified health care professional but I do play one in my own life and do quite well in managing my own care which includes dietary choices and lifestyle choices because my body requires it. And I am well educated in health, diet and other anthropomorphic issues which are known to impact my health as well as that of others.

So the guy drank too much of crappy pre-mixed iced tea laden with chemicals that could have exacerbated his condition, even if it wasn't mentioned in the article. Having been the victim of licensed doctors who did more damage than good and having several indoctrinated and licensed healthcare professionals in my family, I always question what they claim.

You were making a comment and I made a suggestion and you can't seem to handle it, apparently. Your loss for not being able to carry on a conversation without resorting to blustering condemnation in return.

[GusFring]

10. Cola/sodas damaged my kidneys. Not on dialysis yet, but water is the way to go. Nt

[GusFring]

11. Could've been antibiotics too. Nt

[songbookz]

42. No...it was probably the phosphates in the cola.

In addition to the corn syrup in cola (or artificial sweetness which is just as bad), phosphates in Carmel colored sodas can damage the kidneys.

[forest444]

14. The problem was probably not the iced tea itself

but the artificial sweeteners.

If he's like most people these days (especially us guys), he used a ready-made iced tea mix - and many contain artificial sweeteners, which have been linked to a number of ailments from infertility, to kidney malfunction, and even cancer.

[Art_from_Ark]

19. I absolutely refuse to buy pre-sweetened tea

or use any artificial sweeteners. Bleah.
A touch of honey and lemon in black tea is the way to go.

[forest444]

20. Hear, hear.

[2naSalit]

26. I don't think any

of the stuff in those pre-mixed products is safe for consumption at any time, no wonder he's sick. Yuk.

[Divernan]

34. Culture gap/Pakistani Doc didn't check if tea was sweetened.

Here we see an example of how a difference in cultures/lack of knowledge of indigenous culture can negatively impact a medical diagnoses.

(From the OP link) Ghaffar didn't know if the man drank sugar-sweetened iced tea - the way it is usually served in the South. While he'd had diabetes, that didn't cause his kidney problems, she said.

So not only did this doctor with a medical degree from Pakistan jump to a conclusion that the iced tea was causative, without determining if it was naturally or artificially sweetened, she also said he had had diabetes, as if he no longer had it. Diabetes can be controlled but not cured. Even when controlled, it can lead to kidney failure.

Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure, accounting for nearly 44 percent of new cases. Even when diabetes is controlled, the disease can lead to CKD and kidney failure. Most people with diabetes do not develop CKD that is severe enough to progress to kidney failure. Nearly 24 million people in the United States have diabetes, 2 and nearly 180,000 people are living with kidney failure as a result of diabetes.
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/Kudiseases/pubs/kdd/

Dr. Ghaffar's Overview
Dr. Umbar Ghaffar graduated from the Rawalpindi Med Coll, Univ of Punjab, Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 2004. She works in Little Rock, AR and specializes in Nephrology. Dr. Ghaffar is affiliated with John L Mcclellan Memorial Veterans Hospital and University Arkansas Of Medical Sciences. She speaks English and Spanish.
http://origin-doctor.webmd.com/doctor/umbar-ghaffar-md-a0d6189c-c57a-4b98-9873-ff29a5ca9395-overview

I have always had the highest regard for the New England Journal of Medicine, but they didn't do their due diligence in publishing this article. Hope they get some letters to the editor from their medical readers pointing out the fallacies in this diagnosis.

OTOH, I have always had and continue to have the highest regard for you, Omaha Steve. Bonne courage mon ami.

[dolphinsandtuna]

35. diabetes, comtrolled, not cured.

Right. I have an auto-immune disease in remission, and it bugs me off when a doctor tries to take it out of my medical records. I can just see being unconscious some day in an ER because it's gone into overdrive, and the ER having no clue to even look for it.

[suffragette]

17. Gosh Omaha Steve, I'm sorry to hear this

I read more than I post and I appreciate your threads.

[DonCoquixote]

18. this is still odd

Argentinans drink a gallon of Mate a day, which is STRONG tea.

[Mosby]

22. yerba mate is not tea.

[KMOD]

21. That is way too much fluid to drink everyday

He either already had diabetes, therefore his excessive thirst, or he messed up his electrolytes with that much fluid.

[Snarkoleptic]

23. That's dreadful news, Omaha Steve.

If you are so inclined, you may wish to switch to a tea of pot rather than a pot of tea.
Warm regards.

[Omaha Steve]

32. There is a bill in the legislature

For medicinal.

[Duppers]

27. oh my.

I drink almost that much, however my kidney function tests are always good, especially for my age.

Steve, I'm always sending best vibs your way, every time I see your name or read one of your posts. You're one of my favorite people here.

[sheshe2]

28. ...

[DFW]

30. I drink several cups of hot tea a day

Usually black. When I'm home in Texas, which is rare enough, I drink iced tea at lunch, but also just a glass or two. I didn't know it contained a kidney-harming substance. Great. Add something else to what my cardiologist told me after I had my stents implanted--if it tastes good, spit it out.

We all have quality-of-life judgements to make, whether our prognosis is sixty days or sixty years. Mother Nature had me scheduled to Meet The Reaper on April 30th, 2004. Except for a little persistence and some dumb luck, I should have departed this world on that day. The old ads said it's not nice to fool Mother Nature, but I've been doing just that for 11 years now. Maybe you can push the envelope a little longer, too. Here's hoping!

[Cryptoad]

31. Him being a Southern

who drink sweet tea.. that would be about 2 cups of white sugar / day...... hell that is enough to shut the kidneys down.

[IronLionZion]

33. Too much of anything can throw your body off balance

which anyone who has ever gone on a strict diet may have discovered the hard way.

[workinclasszero]

36. Is there nothing safe to drink at all?

Jeez I finally broke my diet soda addiction after all the warnings it would kill me so I switch to...

Yeah you guessed it...

Iced tea! Oh tea is sooo good for you! But oh hell naw, now Iced Tea is gonna kill me dead too!

I give up

[7962]

40. Sure its safe; its the amount. Here's a story of a girl who died from too much WATER

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16614865/ns/us_news-life/t/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/

[workinclasszero]

41. Well there you go

Water kills, who knew? smh

[MBS]

38. Actually, there's a good deal of debate

of how much dietary calcium oxalate contributes to kidney stones , and the amount of oxalate in tea depends on kind of tea (highest in black tea, less in oolong or green tea, variable in herbal tea), amount of brewing time, and presence or absence of milk.
Plus a lot of other biological factors are involved, too, and causative factors of kidney stones vary widely from individual to individual. Many of the causes are more due to one's own metabolism and less due to diet. . . or are due to factors in your diet.
Drink away, Omaha Steve ; you deserve it. : ). Ditto everyone else, unless specifically prohibited by your doctor.

For example of some of the recent data , see
http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/11/4/298.pdf. Here are the concluding paragraphs:
(0.11)



The results from this experiment show that while a regular
tea drinker would be consuming oxalate every day, the levels
are modest when compared to the amounts of oxalate that can be found in other common foods. It would be very difficult to consume an excessive amount of soluble oxalate
from the regular consumption of black tea without milk. The consumption of black tea with milk would mean that small amounts of oxalate would be absorbed on a daily basis and
would place black tea in the low risk group of foods, as defined by Noonan and Savage.1
The results also show that the consumption of milk with
black tea could result in a large amount of the calcium in the milk becoming unavailable after binding to the soluble oxalate in the tea. A recalculation of the total daily calcium
intake may be required to take account of this.
For calcium stone formers, especially those with elevated urinary oxalate levels, the consumption of green, oolong or herbal teas, or the consumption of black teas with milk, would be a wise recommendation.

[DonViejo]

44. Locking...

A consensus of Forum Hosts believe this is not "important news of national interest" as required by the SOP of the LBN Forum.