Doctors Warn Energy Drinks May Increase Heart Disease, Stroke Risk

Doctors are warning that heavy energy drink consumption may increase heart disease and stroke risk after treating a healthy man in his 50s who suffered a stroke. The patient consumed eight energy drinks daily, totaling 1,200mg of caffeine per day, three times the recommended 400mg maximum. His blood pressure measured 254/150mmHg upon hospital admission, which doctors called extremely high. Medication failed to control his blood pressure until he stopped drinking energy drinks, after which it returned to normal without drugs. “I obviously wasn’t aware of the dangers drinking energy drinks were causing to myself. [I] have been left with numbness [in my] left-hand side hand and fingers, foot and toes even after eight years,” the patient said anonymously. The case, published in BMJ Case Reports, prompted calls for tighter regulation of energy drink sales and advertising. (Story URL)