Monster Energy Drinks Dangerous to the Heart?
Posted: Friday, July 26th, 2013 at 5:52 am
Monster Energy drinks are extremely popular. However, a recent study that was presented to the American Heart Association insinuates that there may be a link between consumption of the drink to a spike in blood pressure that results in changes to the rhythms of the heart. People have died after drinking Monster Energy drinks, which include a high caffeine content, and as a result, lawsuits have been filed against its parent company, Monster Beverage Corporation.
The findings in the study that was presented to the American Heart Association suggest that consuming energy drinks can cause the blood pressure to increase, which changes the normal function of the heart. The study is preliminary due to its as of yet unpublished nature, but it was discovered that participants who drank a mere one to three energy drinks had a QT interval that was 10 milliseconds longer than people who didn’t consume an energy drink. While this number may seem extremely minute, an extended QT interval can potentially lead to a fatal arrhythmia of the heart.
In addition, the researchers who performed the study looked at the systolic blood pressure of the individuals who participated. It was found as a result that consuming as little as one energy drink increased their blood pressure to an average of 3.5 points, and the participants, who ranged in age from 18 to 45, were said to be healthy. The researchers determined that individuals who had health issues would more likely experience side effects affecting the heart.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that more emergency room visits were linked to energy drinks between 2007 and 2011, and that those visiting the E.R. because of them more than doubled 10,068 to 20,783 between those years. Most patients were male, but the number of visits to the E.R. for either sex doubled between the years of 2007 and 2011. Those aged 18 to 39 were most likely to be seen at the emergency room for issues related to consumption of energy drinks, although there was an increase of individuals 40 and older of 279 percent between 2007 and 2011.
It was also revealed that the caffeine content in an energy drink is anywhere from 80 to over 500 milligrams. Meanwhile, a cup of coffee of only five ounces contains only 100 milligrams of caffeine. Lawsuits have been filed against the makers of a few energy drinks as a result of fatal heart attacks in individuals after drinking the products.
Bookmark This Article:
| del.icio.us: 
|
Digg: |
Technorati:
|
Newsvine: 
|
Reddit: 
|
Furl: 
|
|
| Stumble Upon: 
|
Yahoo!: |
Google:
|