Do you wonder how many cups of coffee, glasses of plain water, joints of marijuana or bars of chocolate can lead to death? In this article, we share the exact figures with you.
From childhood, we have been taught that we need to stay away from poisonous substances to avoid trouble. For example, 200 mg of mercury are capable of killing one person, and just a gram of polonium is enough to kill 50 million people.
However, nobody has ever told us that the usual substances, such as water, coffee and alcohol, can cause death if consumed in excessive amounts.
A lethal dose of coffee
Coffee is a rich source of caffeine. Caffeine is a narcotic substance which provokes increased heart beating and can cause heart failure if used in very large quantities.
However, to provoke a fatal outcome, one needs to drink about three cups of coffee every hour throughout the day and night. If you need a specific figure, 70 cups of coffee contain enough caffeine to kill a person weighing up to 70 kg.
How long can an average person not breathe before he/she dies
If you put your head under water, or just hold your breath, your brain will be injured in just four minutes without oxygen; in six minutes death will come.
Of course, there are trained people who can hold their breath for 20 minutes, but these are special cases, and we are talking about ordinary people.
Can a cherry kill? It can!
Did you know that cherries may also deprive a person of oxygen? Cherry pits contain poison called cyanide. If you accidentally swallow a cherry pit, it will not hurt you. However, it is the seeds in these pits that are dangerous. Therefore, it is dangerous to crack the pits and eat what’s inside. Only one or two grams of cherry seeds are enough to kill a person.
A lethal dose of alcohol
13 shot glasses of hard liquor, drunk one after another, can cause death (much also depends on a person’s weight). Alcohol alters the chemical structure of the brain, and more specifically – the level of neurotransmitters that carry signals from the brain to all parts of the body. A high dose of alcohol slows down the areas that are responsible for breathing and the heartbeat, which may lead to death.
What height should a person have for it to kill him/her
In the 1930s, there lived a young man called Robert Pershing Wadlow. His height was 272 cm. Being too high causes an excessive burden on the blood circulatory system and the bones. Robert died at the age of 22.
In the scientific world, there is a hypothesis that every 2.5 cm of height after 1.5 meters reduce life expectancy by 1 year and 3 months.
A lethal dose of marijuana
To die, one needs to eat 22 kg of grass, or smoke 680 kg of it in 15 minutes. This explains the fact that there are no official deaths from overdose of marijuana.
What sound loudness can make a man’s heart stop?
Do you like to listen to loud music? Great. Just do not make the sound louder than 185 decibels, as it is considered a fatal volume threshold for humans.
Too loud sounds lead to air embolism, the penetration of air bubbles into the artery and its occlusion. As a result, blood ceases to flow to the heart and brain.
To help you understand how much 185 decibels are, we will give you some numbers. Coal hammers produce about 100 dB (if you stand close), a chainsaw reaches 120 dB, and 150 dB is the sound you hear when standing next to a turbine of an aircraft that is taking off.
A lethal dose of water
A large amount of water (about six liters) can cause problems. Cells begin to swell because of such a volume of liquid, which leads to fits and headaches, and in extreme cases – even to coma and death. There was one case when a man died after drinking 10 liters of water during eight hours.
And if you drink not enough water and eat a lot of salty food, your cells shrink, resulting in a condition called hypernatremia, which also affects health adversely.
How long can you survive without sleep before death occurs
Studies on rats set a record of two weeks. The world record for a human is 11 days without sleep. But there is no documented case of death due to long absence of sleep.
A lethal dose of chocolate
If you have a dog, you know you cannot give chocolate to this animal. This can lead to serious health problems. The theobromine substance, which the four-legged friends are so sensitive to, can also harm the humans. However, the lethal dose of chocolate is 85 bars eaten in a row. It is unlikely that someone would do that.
