Years of drinking a young man’s energy drinks almost killed him, say doctors in the UK. In a new report this week, they detail how the man developed heart failure, probably related to his habit of drinking four energy drinks a day for two consecutive years. Although he was admitted to the intensive care unit as a result, he fortunately survived.
According to the report, published Thursday in BMJ Case Reports, a A 21-year-old man from the UK had gone to a local hospital with complaints of shortness of breath and bloating. Her symptoms, which included weight loss, tremors, heartbeat, and general fatigue, had begun four months earlier and were gradually getting worse. His health was thus damaged that he had stopped going to school three months earlier. Tests soon revealed that the man had heart and kidney failure to the point damaging his brain and causing delirium.
The man denied alcohol or other drugs and nothing else in his family’s history seemed to indicate a unique vulnerability to heart problems. But he regularly described energy drinks, up to four 500-milliliter boxes per day for the past two years.
Eventually, doctors came to the conclusion that the man’s heart failure was most likely caused by his heavy consumption of energy drinks, which probably affected his heart slowly over time. Renal failure, on the other hand, was caused by a chronic blockage of urine in both the kidneys and urethra. but it was probably unrelated to his habit of energy drinks or the heart damage that followed.
Both conditions threatened to kill him without intensive treatment, and on the third day after his hospitalization was transferred to a specialized hospital. He will spend 58 days in hospital, most of them on dialysis, but was eventually discharged in relatively decent health.
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“There is no doubt that his heart failure was not detected and treated, including the treatment of blood clots found in his heart when he was performing very poorly, he would have had a very high risk of death, either by heart failure , or potentially fatal stroke, ”author Andrew D’Silva, a cardiologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and a researcher at King’s College London, told Gizmodo.
As the authors point out, this is not the first case of heart damage related to the consumption of energy drinks in young and apparently healthy people. In 2012, doctors reported a similar case of a 24-year-old man whose heart failure forced him to be put on a ventilator. And just last year, doctors reported a case in which a 26-year-old needed 10 months of treatment, including mechanical support, following heart failure related to energy drinks.
These cases seem to be rare, bHowever, it is not yet clear how these drinks can contribute to heart damage. One culprit is probably the huge doses of caffeine they offer on the drink. Stimulants such as caffeine can make the heart beat faster and stronger than otherwise, notes D’Silva. But he also suspects that some people are more sensitive to the negative health effects that can occur with heavy caffeine consumption than others.
“In some people, when the heart beats faster than it should for an extended period of time, it can temporarily weaken the heart. In addition, if the heart is stimulated to beat harder, can become over-stimulated and adjust its receptors to stimulants, including normal body hormones, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline, which are part of the “normal response to fighting and running,” he said. “This can lead to temporary weakness because the heart becomes less sensitive to normal controls.”
For now, these possible explanations are still speculation. And, in general, more research needs to be done to investigate the link between energy drinks and heart problems, including whether some individuals are more vulnerable to it.
As for young people man, Said D’Silva he is doing very well since he stopped consuming energy drinks. While his kidneys are still affected, and may eventually need the transplant, his heart seems to return to almost normal on the basis tests. It is also capable of running kilometers without problems, and no longer has problems such as shortness of breath or fluid retention. WBut there may be many unknowns about the dangers of consuming energy drinks hoping that people can learn from his experience.
“I think there should be more awareness about energy drinks[s] and the effect of their content. I think they are very addictive and far too accessible for young children “, the man wrote in an accompanying patient perspective. “I believe that smoking-like warning labels should be made to illustrate the potential dangers of ingredients in energy drinks.[s]. ”
physicians should be looking for the possibility that energy drinks can cause such heart problems, although only after thorough investigations to rule out other causes, said D’Sliva.