In the journal BMJ Case Reports, doctors have warned that heavy energy drink consumption may be linked to heart failure, after treating a 21 year old man who had drunk 2 litres of the drinks every day for 2 years.
This report adds to the growing body of published evidence on, and mounting concerns about, the potential heart harms of these drinks, the authors stated.
The young man in the case report experienced 4 months of progressive shortness of breath on exertion, breathlessness while lying down (orthopnoea), and weight loss before ending up in intensive care.
He habitually drank an average of four 500 ml cans of energy drink every day: each can contains 160 mg of caffeine plus taurine (a protein included in energy drinks for its cytoprotective benefits) and various other ingredients. He said he had been doing this for around 2 years. In the past he had also suffered bouts of indigestion, tremor and palpitations for which he hadn’t sought medical help. In the 3 months before he was admitted to hospital, he had discontinued his university studies because he was feeling so unwell and lethargic.
Testing revealed heart and kidney failure, both of which were severe enough to consider putting him on the list for a dual organ transplant. The kidney failure was due to an unrelated condition.
However, his heart symptoms and function improved significantly with drug treatment and after he cut out energy drinks completely. “However, it is difficult to predict the clinical course of recovery or potential for relapse,” caution the authors.
The authors noted that besides this case report, there have been several others as well as review articles that have highlighted mounting concerns about the potential cardiovascular system harms of energy drinks.
The authors theorised that one factor may be caffeine overstimulating the sympathetic nervous system; energy drinks are also known to increase blood pressure and can trigger heart rhythm abnormalities.
“Clear warnings should be provided about the potential cardiovascular dangers of energy drink consumption in large amounts,” the authors concluded.
“I think there should be more awareness about energy drinks and the effect of their contents,” added the subject of this case report. “I believe they are very addictive and far too accessible to young children.”
Source: Medical Xpress
Journal information: Case report: Energy drink-induced cardiomyopathy, BMJ Case Reports (2021). DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2020-239370
