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Death by bubble gum: UK girl’s chewing habit may have killed her

Samantha Jenkins, 19, died in June 2011 after suffering from seizures that doctors now believe may have been linked to her chewing gum habit. After suffering a violent seizure, Ms. Jenkins was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late.

Through the course of several days of treatment, Jenkins suffered from an increasing number of seizures, causing her brain to swell. Despite the best efforts of attending doctors, Jenkins died in her mother’s arms.

Medical professionals now believe that the young lady’s chewing gum habit contributed to her death. Ms. Jenkins would frequently eat 14 or more sticks of gum per day. Instead of chewing the gum and spitting it out, Ms. Jenkins apparently had a habit of swallowing it.

Postmortem exams found several large lumps of green gum undigested in her stomach.

While the human body can pass small amounts of gum, the digestive tract can’t break the gum down. When small amounts of gum are consumed, our bodies simply push the gum through the digestive tract.

Ms. Jenkins’ chewing habits may have overwhelmed her digestive tract and it appears that she was unable to flush all of the gum from her system. Some doctors now believe that the gum made it difficult for her stomach to absorb vital nutrients, thereby contributing to health complications and ultimately her death.

The coroner who examined Jenkins supported this view. The coroner ruled that Jenkins’ death was due to an electrolyte imbalance and malabsorption, and that the girl’s excessive chewing gum habit may have played a role.

Ms. Jenkins’ mother, Maria Morgan, believes that exposure to high levels of aspartame and sorbitol led to her death. Morgan is now looking for answers and hopes to raise awareness about the potential dangers caused by such additives.

Dr. Paul Griffins, who performed a postmortem examination on Jenkins, suggested sweeteners may have played a role, but cautioned that there is little direct evidence to link them directly to Jenkins’ death. Dr. Griffins noted that Jenkins could have been consuming nearly 17 grams of sweeteners per day.

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