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Energy Drinks May Imperil Hypertensives

Energy drinks spur increases in blood pressure and heart rate that could be dangerous for people with heart disease or hypertension, indicates a small study presented at the American Heart Association's 2007 Scientific Sessions, held November 4–7 in Orlando, Fla.

In the study, 15 healthy young adults (average age 26) drank two cans of an energy drink 7 days in a row. The beverage contained typical energy drink components: 80 mg of caffeine and 1,000 mg of taurine—an amino acid present in meats and fish.

The researchers, led by James Kalus, PharmD, took blood pressure, heart rate, and electrocardiogram (ECG) measures at baseline on days 1 and 7 and at 30 minutes and 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours after participants consumed the drinks each day. Participants sat and watched movies while consuming the drinks.

Researchers compared the baseline measures taken on days 1 and 7 to the half-hour and hourly post-energy drink values taken daily. Results showed that within 4 hours of downing the energy drink, participants' systolic blood pressure rose by 7.9% on day 1 and 9.6% on day 7. Within 2 hours of consumption, diastolic pressure increased by 7% on day 1 and 7.8% on day 7. In addition, heart rates increased five to seven beats per minute, on average, after energy drink consumption.

Kalus suspects these shifts would be clinically significant in patients with cardiac disease, especially given that these are results from healthy participants at rest.

"I would advise any patient with cardiac risk against using these energy drinks," says Kalus, senior manager of patient care services at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Whether caffeine or taurine—or both—spurs the effects isn't yet clear and could be fodder for future research, Kalus notes. Past research on coffee's effect on blood pressure has produced conflicting results, he says.¹

Also of interest for possible study are the health effects of drinks that combine caffeine, taurine, and alcohol, says Kalus.

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Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Law, B. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Law, B. M. Social Bookmarking                What's this?