Energy Drinks Bad for the Heart

Energy drinks are supposed to give people a boost. But it may not be the kind of boost most people want.
According to Wayne State University researchers, these drinks can cause blood pressure and heart rates to increase. In people who already have high blood pressure or heart disease, the results could be potentially dangerous.
Energy drinks are high in caffeine and an amino acid called taurine, which are known to impact blood pressure and heart function.
The research was conducted among 15 healthy young volunteers, who were tested for blood pressure and heart rate two days after abstaining from caffeine. Each then drank two cans of an energy drink for five days, with subsequent blood pressure and heart rate tests. The volunteers also had ECGs to measure heart function.
The drinks didn’t impact results from the ECGs, but did raise blood pressure and heart rates. While the increases weren’t enough to harm the healthy young people in the study, they could be enough to put people with high blood pressure or heart problems in the danger zone.
But even the healthy aren’t off the hook, because the volunteers in this study had their blood pressure and heart rates monitored while sitting still. Effects on blood pressure and heart rate during exercise – which is commonly associated with the drinks – might elicit different results. And since some people mix the drinks with alcohol, researchers fear even more problems.
The bottom line: people with risk factors for heart disease should avoid consumption of energy drinks, and even those who don’t should be aware of potential problems.
“Thousands of young adults are using these drinks,” study author James Kalus, Pharm.D., was quoted as saying. “Some are mixing the energy drinks with alcohol. We don’t necessarily know how much they are drinking at a time or whether they are drinking before exerting themselves playing basketball or dancing.”

SOURCE: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007