Have you every consumed an energy drink?
According to research by Professor Milou-Daniel Drici from France, presented at ESC Congress 2014, so called “energy drinks” can lead to a number of adverse conditions including:
- Angina
- Irregular heartbeat
- Sudden death
People may sometimes consume a number of these drinks one after the other and these energy drinks are linked to heart problems.
Dr. Drici suggests that around 96 percent of these drinks contain caffeine with a typical 0.25 liter holding 2 espressos worth of caffeine. This potency can cause an irregular heartbeat and also has effects on the heart’s ability to contract and use oxygen.
According to Dr. Drici, in 2008 energy drinks were granted marketing authorization in France and in 2009 this was accompanied by a nationwide nutritional surveillance scheme which required health agencies and regional centers to send information on spontaneously reported adverse events to the A.N.S.E.S, the French agency for food safety.
The Study Analysis
The current study analyzed adverse events reported to the agency between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2012.
Fifteen specialists including cardiologists, psychiatrists, neurologists and physiologists contributed to the investigation.
Researchers found that consumption of the 103 energy drinks in France increased by 30 percent between 2009 and 2011.
During the two year period 257 cases were reported to the agency. Experts found that 95 of the reported adverse events had cardiovascular symptoms, 74 psychiatric, 57 neurological, sometimes overlapping.
Cardiac arrests and sudden or unexplained deaths occurred in at least 8 cases.
Dr. Dici states, “… Doctors should warn patients with cardiac conditions about the potential dangers of these drinks and ask young people in particular whether they consume such drinks on a regular basis or through binge drinking.”