Consuming energy drinks increases the risk of developing a life-threatening abnormal heartbeat, according to a new study.
Certain types of abnormal heartbeat—known as arrhythmia—can lead to sudden cardiac death, which causes “an estimated 130,000 deaths each year,” according to the CDC.
In a new study conducted by the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers found that drinking just two cans of Monster energy drinks or four cans of Red Bull is enough to increase the risk of developing life-threatening arrhythmia.
Energy drinks may promise a boost, but experts are increasingly concerned that their cocktails of ingredients could have unintended health risks. https://t.co/r2arD7QDnJ
— CNN (@CNN) May 29, 2019
The study analyzed 34 healthy people between the ages of 18 and 40 and how consuming energy drinks impacted them.
Researchers used a measurement called the QTc interval, which records the time between heartbeats. If this interval is too short or too long, it can lead to cardiac arrest.
The study found that “energy drinks significantly prolong the QTc interval and raise blood pressure.”
Dr. John Higgins, a sports cardiologist with McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, told CNN that most energy drinks generally contain a lot of caffeine.
“There’s been several cases described of people that have gone into cardiac arrest after consuming more than one energy beverage, and when they’ve done sort of further analysis on these individuals, they haven’t been able to find anything abnormal other than the very high levels of caffeine and taurine in the toxicology,” Higgins said.
He went on to give a specific example and said, “in one case, a young 28-year-old who drank eight cans of an energy drink actually went into cardiac arrest, and they found his arteries of his heart were completely locked up. When they were able to open them up, all the testing revealed nothing wrong with this person other than he had high levels of caffeine and taurine.”
“People need to be aware of that,” he said. “For certain groups, it could be potentially dangerous, like for those under 18, women who are pregnant, people who have a caffeine sensitivity, people who don’t consume caffeine on a regular basis and people who are taking certain medications, like Adderall for attention deficit (disorder).”
According to study author Sachin Shah, a professor of pharmacy at the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at the University of the Pacific, “Unlike drugs, supplements and consumer products do not necessarily get tested for safety,” she told CNN in an email.
However, a spokesperson for the American Beverages Association previously told CNN that people have been safely consuming energy drinks for over 25 years.
“Many of the ingredients in energy drinks, such as B vitamins and taurine are found naturally in many foods,” Rachel Hicks, a spokesperson for the organization, said in a statement.
The combination of caffeine with the other ingredients in energy drinks can have an impact on the function of a person’s arteries by inhibiting their ability to dilate properly, Higgins said.
“The blood vessels in the heart during exercise have to get larger; they dilate and get larger so that more blood flow can get to the heart,” he told CNN.
“Energy drinks not only have been shown to raise stress levels, increase heart rate, increase blood pressure, they’ve also been shown to make the blood a little bit thicker,” he added, all of which can pose a health risk.
