{"id":13290,"date":"2013-03-22T12:22:29","date_gmt":"2013-03-22T16:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=13290"},"modified":"2013-03-22T12:22:29","modified_gmt":"2013-03-22T16:22:29","slug":"review-energy-drinks-pose-hypertension-heart-rhythm-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=13290","title":{"rendered":"Review: Energy Drinks Pose Hypertension, Heart Rhythm Risks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Energy<\/a>
(American Heart Association)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A review of recent studies indicates consuming energy drinks with added caffeine can lead to heart rhythm disturbances and higher blood pressure. The team led by University of the Pacific pharmacologist Sachin Shah<\/a>, presented its findings<\/a> yesterday at a meeting of the American Heart Association<\/a> in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Shah, with colleagues from David Grant Medical Center<\/a> at Travis Air Force Base, drew data from seven previously published studies of energy drink consumption on heart health. The pooled studies covered healthy, young patients, age 18 to 45.<\/p>\n

Their analysis of 93 subjects from those studies shows people who had just consumed from one to three energy drinks had QT intervals 10 milliseconds longer than those who did not have energy drinks. QT intervals<\/a> describe a segment on an electrocardiogram showing the heart’s rhythm. When the QT interval is prolonged<\/a>, it can cause serious irregular heartbeats or sudden cardiac death.<\/p>\n

“The finding that energy drinks could prolong the QT, in light of the reports of sudden cardiac death,” says co-author Ian Riddock of Grant Medical Center, “warrants further investigation.”<\/p>\n

The team also found that the systolic blood pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, increased by an average of 3.5 points in a pool of 132 subjects from the reviewed studies. “Since energy drinks also contain caffeine,” says Shah, “people who do not normally drink much caffeine might have an exaggerated increase in blood pressure.”<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/a> in October 2012 reported that the Food and Drug Administration received numerous incidents of adverse health effects, including five deaths, linked to energy drinks. Among the adverse effects reported was abnormal heart rate. FDA published two listings of those reports — one for 5-Hour Energy, Monster Energy, and Rockstar Energy<\/a> drinks, and a separate listing for Red Bull<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n