Doctors issue fresh energy drink warning after man hospitalised with heart failure

Doctors have issued a fresh warning about the potential dangers of energy drink over-consumption after a man was hospitalised with heart failure.

The 21-year-old patient ended up in intensive care after experiencing four months of breathlessness and weight loss.

The man told doctors he didn't use drugs or abuse alcohol but had been regularly drinking four cans of 500ml caffeinated energy drinks per day for the past two years.

In a report published in the British Medical Journal on Thursday, medics said the patient told them he had also had regular bouts of tremors and palpitations in the past.

He hadn't previously sought medical help for any of those symptoms. In the three months prior to being admitted to intensive care, he was forced to drop out of university because he felt unwell and tired.

Blood tests and scans revealed the man had both heart and kidney failure, both of which were severe enough to prompt doctors to consider a dual organ transplant.

The kidney failure was caused by a blockage of his urine flow, which was long-standing and previously undiagnosed.

While it is likely that the man will require a kidney transplant at some point in the future, 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,” the report's authors warn.

There have been a number of other studies linking energy drinks to heart problems in recent years and the authors say their paper adds to this growing body of work.

A 2017 paper published in the International Journal of Cardiology found that drinking two cans of a popular energy drink found in most supermarkets increases the risk of cardiac arrest by fifth for people with underlying health conditions.

And last year, a Cambridge coroner ruled that a 36-year-old man died after consuming too much caffeine.

The inquest in July heard how the deceased's room was “very cluttered with lots of empty drinking vessels on the floor”.

The coroner said that it was "unclear" how the man had consumed the caffeine and recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure.

The authors of the BMJ report published on Thursday say energy drinks should come with better advice labels.

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

“There should be more awareness about energy drinks and the effect of their contents,” the author's add. “They are very addictive and far too accessible to young children.”