Texas bodybuilder, 35, suffers heart failure after drinking ice-cold WATER: Fluid kept hitting nerve at the back of his throat, causing underlying condition
A bodybuilder was hospitalized more than a dozen times with a mysterious heart condition caused by drinking water.
It took years and 25 hospital visits for Franklin Aribeana, 35, and doctors to pinpoint the cause of the problem: ice-cold drinks after a workout.
They theorized that when the icy water hit the back of his throat, it irritated the vagus nerve that connects the brain to the heart.
Because his heart rate had already increased from exercise, they suggested this caused the organ to beat irregularly – in a condition medically called atrial fibrillation.
The Houston, Texas, resident already has an irregular heartbeat and an enlarged part of his heart, making the irregular heartbeat more likely because his heart is already under increased stress.
Franklin Aribeana, 35, from Texas, reportedly collapsed after drinking ice-cold water (pictured above while exercising)
Mr. Aribeana, pictured above, is also a bodybuilder. Doctors were initially baffled as to the cause of the heart problems
He suffered from the reactions for more than a decade and a half before suspecting cold water might be the trigger (pictured above in hospital after an episode involving his heart)
Mr Aribeana described the condition to local media: ‘As I drink the water, (I feel) probably the most noticeable pop in my chest… that I have never experienced before.
“I take a sip of cold water and as I sit back down I feel the double pop.”
He described another incident when he collapsed on a golf course, saying, “I took a drink of cold water and the next thing you know, palpitations were literally coming out of my chest.”
“They took off my shirt and you could literally see my heart beating out of my chest, and then I passed out.”
To treat his condition, doctors cauterized — or severed — the connection between his vagus nerve and his heart.
Cold water can activate the vagus nerve as it can trigger a response known as the ‘plunge reflex’.
This is normally caused by exposure to cold water, but in rare cases can also be caused by cold water in the throat.
The reflex causes a slowing of the heart rate to help conserve oxygen, as well as the contraction of blood vessels in the extremities, such as the hands and feet, to direct blood to vital organs.
Normally, these changes are short-lived and disappear once a person is no longer exposed to cold water.
But in people with underlying medical conditions, such as an enlarged ventricle, the reflex can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, causing them to collapse. It can also cause the heart to beat irregularly.
Mr Aribeana said he has had no complications since the procedure and can now drink cold water without any problems.
However, he is still taking heart medications, which are related to his genetic condition.
Mr Aribeana said he first collapsed in 2007, at the age of 18, after drinking cold water while on a golf course on a hot summer day.
He has also since reported collapsing at the gym, again after drinking cold water.
Dr. Khashayar Mematpour, a heart disease expert at the Texas Medical Center, said Mr. Aribeana’s condition was rare.
He also diagnosed his genetic heart condition – caused by mutations in the RBM20 gene – which caused the left chamber in his heart to enlarge.
Tests showed this was caused by cold water stimulating the vagus nerve in the throat, causing the heart to beat irregularly
Mr. Aribeana now has his vagus nerve cauterized and can drink cold water without suffering the reaction (photo)
This makes atrial fibrillation – or the disruption of electrical signals that causes the heart to beat irregularly – more likely because the heart is already under increased pressure and may contain more scar tissue that disrupts electrical signals.
This condition is uncommon and is estimated to affect less than one in 2,500 people in the US.
Dr. Mematpour said, “Franklin is a phenomenal individual! He has a lot of drive! He was very informed about his treatment.”
He added that Mr Aribeana’s trigger was rare and would normally cause “subtle symptoms” such as “feeling a little more tired than normal, being short of breath or having some chest pain”.
The vagus nerve is one of twelve cranial nerves in the body and runs from the brain stem to the abdomen – via the throat.
It is part of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), or the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary functions such as heart rate or breathing.
This nerve can be stimulated by objects in the throat, such as cold water, which can cause it to send irregular signals to the heart, leading to atrial fibrillation.
Complications to the nerve can be caused by previous injury to the neck or compression of the nerve by surrounding tissue, such as enlarged blood vessels.
They may also be related to genetic conditions that affect the heart.
Problems with the vagus nerve can be diagnosed using a breathing test, which shows how much the heart rate changes in response to shifts in breathing rate.