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Doctors newspaper, 07.06.2019
Potentially deadly
Energy drinks seem to be potentially fatal, as a study reveals: a liter of it can raise blood pressure in healthy volunteers and cause disturbances in cardiac electrical activity.
By Susanne Kressenstein
© Tom Eversley / stock.adobe.com
STOCKTON. In addition to a blood pressure increase, US researchers at the University of the Pacific in California have now proven another dangerous effect of energy drinks. In a study of volunteers, consumption increased the QT interval by several milliseconds ( JAHA 2019; online June 4 ).
Energy drinks contain taurine, inositol, glucuronolactone, vitamins and any amount of caffeine. Cardiovascular effects of two commercial products were investigated by the researchers in the randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study.
Thirty-four healthy volunteers (18-40 years old) drank 946 milliliters (32 fl.oz.) of one of these two drinks or a placebo drink (water with lime juice and cherry flavor) in one hour. After each six-day break ("wash-out") was changed until each subject had drunk each of the three variants. The energy drinks contained 304 or 320 mg of caffeine.
Electrical activity of the heart measured
In addition to blood pressure, an ECG was used to measure the electrical activity of the heart, before and after consumption, and for four hours every 30 minutes. The primary endpoint was the QT interval, reports the team led by Professor Sachin A. Shah.
Result: The QT interval was 6.0 or 7.7 milliseconds longer after consumption of the energy drinks depending on the product than after the consumption of the placebo drink. The QT interval is known to be the time between the beginning of the QRS complex and the end of the T-wave. In this interval, the de- and repolarization of the ventricles falls.
If the period is too short or too long, the life-threatening torsades de pointes arrhythmias may favor.
Parallel to the QT time extension, systolic and diastolic blood pressures increased by an average of 4.0 to 5.0 mmHg after energy drink consumption. Caffeine is probably not the cause of these effects, the researchers emphasize.
The quantities of caffeine consumed were not exorbitantly high – daily rations of up to 400 mg are considered harmless. The study authors therefore assume that another ingredient or the combination of several are the cause of the altered QT intervals and the rise in blood pressure.
High consumption questionable
The researchers are concerned about the high consumption of energy drinks. It is estimated that one in three US teenagers between the ages of twelve and 17 years of age regularly drinks in the United States. Much must therefore be treated in emergency departments and occasionally there are even deaths.
The researchers point out that the drinks are often consumed in combination with alcohol or other drugs or even with health disorders. High blood pressure or long QT syndrome should be advised against energy drinks. Page 2
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Please also read the guest commentary by Professor Stephan Martin:
Energy drinks: questionable facts are hidden
Further information on cardiology at www.kardiologie.org
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source https://federalist-forties.000webhostapp.com/2019/06/potentially-lethal-energy-drinks-can-give-angels-wings
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