title: Dying for a cup of tea.
abstract: We report the case of a 70-year-old woman who developed life-threatening arrhythmia as a result of acute and severe hypokalaemia, which she developed after consuming large quantities of a liquorice-rich herb tea. She had no previous heart condition. We also discuss the legislative discrepancy in both the USA and in Europe, whereby consumers are warned about the risk of chronic hypertension whenever they buy a product containing liquorice, yet the risk of hypokalaemia may not be mentioned at all.
authors.affiliation: Urgences Néphrologiques et Transplantation Rénale, APHP, Hôpital Tenon, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kormann
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Languille
authors.forename: Henri-Marc
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Amiot
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hertig
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000139:chemically induced*; D001628:Beverages; D004348:Drug Labeling; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling; D006035:Glycyrrhiza / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D007008:Hypokalemia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts