Heavy energy drink consumption linked to heart failure in a young man 一名年輕男子的心力衰竭與大量能量飲料的攝入有關

News Release 15-Apr-2021

Adds to mounting concerns about potential heart hams of energy drinks, say report authors

BMJ

Research News

Heavy energy drink consumption may be linked to heart failure, doctors have warned in the journal BMJ Case Reports after treating a 21 year old, who had regularly drunk 4 such cans every day for around 2 years.

This report adds to the growing body of published evidence on, and mounting concerns about, the potential heart harms of these drinks, say the authors.

The young man in question ended up in intensive care after experiencing 4 months of progressive shortness of breath on exertion, breathlessness while lying down (orthopnoea), and weight loss.

He habitually drank an average of four 500 ml cans of energy drink every day: each can contains 160 mg of caffeine plus taurine (a protein) and various other ingredients. He said he had been doing this for around 2 years.

He also recalled that he had had bouts of indigestion, tremor and palpitations in the past for which he hadn’t sought medical help. In the 3 months before he was admitted to hospital, he had been forced to discontinue his university studies because he felt so unwell and lethargic.

Blood tests, scans, and ECG readings revealed that he had both heart and kidney failure, severe enough to warrant his being considered for a dual organ transplant.

While he is still likely to need a kidney transplant, because of an unrelated condition, his heart symptoms and function improved significantly with drug treatment and after he cut out energy drinks completely. “However, it is difficult to predict the clinical course of recovery or potential for relapse,” caution the authors.

This is just one case report, but there have been several others as well as review articles that have highlighted mounting concerns about the potential cardiovascular system harms of energy drinks, note the authors.

Overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system by caffeine may be a factor; energy drinks are also known to raise blood pressure and can trigger heart rhythm abnormalities, say the authors, by way of an explanation for the published findings to date.

“Clear warnings should be provided about the potential cardiovascular dangers of energy drink consumption in large amounts,” they conclude.

“I think there should be more awareness about energy drinks and the effect of their contents,” adds the subject of this case report. “I believe they are very addictive and far too accessible to young children.”

###

醫生在治療一名21歲的患者後，在BMJ病例報告雜誌上警告說，大量飲用能量飲料可能與心力衰竭有關，該患者在兩年左右的時間裡每天定期喝四罐這樣的罐子。

這組作者說，這份報告增加了有關這些飲料潛在的心臟危害的越來越多的公開證據，並引起人們越來越多的關注。

這位年輕的男子經歷了四個月的勞累性呼吸急促，躺臥時呼吸困難（正視）和體重減輕，最終接受了重症監護。

他習慣性地每天平均喝四罐500毫升的能量飲料：每罐包含160毫克咖啡因加牛磺酸（一種氨基酸）和其他各種成分。他說他已經做了大約兩年了。
悸

他還回憶說，過去他曾有過消化不良，震顫和心（或心跳加快）的發作，而他並沒有尋求醫療幫助。在他被送往醫院的三個月中，由於他感到不適和昏昏欲睡，他被迫中止了大學學習。

驗血，掃描和ECG讀數顯示，他患有心臟和腎臟衰竭，嚴重到足以使他被考慮進行雙器官移植。

雖然他仍可能需要進行腎臟移植，但由於病情無關，他的心臟症狀和功能在接受藥物治療後以及完全切斷能量飲料後得到了明顯改善。作者警告說：“但是，很難預測其恢復的臨床過程或複發的可能性。”

這組作者只是指出，這只是一個病例報告，但也有其他一些評論文章強調了人們對能量飲料對心血管系統潛在危害的擔憂。

咖啡因對交感神經系統過度刺激可能是一個因素。作者說，通過對迄今為止已發表的研究結果進行解釋，能量飲料也能引起血壓升高並引發心律異常。

他們總結道：“應就大量攝入能量飲料的潛在心血管危險提供明確的警告。”

“我認為應該對能量飲料及其含量的影響有更多的了解，”該病例報告的主題補充道。 “我相信他們非常容易上癮，而且對於幼兒來說也太容易接近了。”