The Huffington
Post (12/3, 11.54M) reports that investigators “recruited 18 healthy
people – 15 men and three women – with an average age of 27.5 to undergo
cardiac magnetic resonance imaging before drinking an energy drink containing
32 milligrams/100 milliliters of caffeine and 400 milligrams/100 milliliters of
taurine.” One “hour after consuming the drinks, all the participants underwent
cardiac MRI to see if energy drink consumption had any effect on heart
function.” The investigators “found that the participants’ hearts had increased
contraction rates – indicated by increased peak systolic strain in the heart’s
left ventricle – after drinking the energy drinks.”
The Los Angeles
Times (12/3, Kaplan, 3.07M) “Science Now” blog reports that the
investigators “also looked for changes in heart rate and blood pressure before
and after volunteers consumed the energy drink, but the readings in both cases
were essentially the same.”
On its website, FOX News
(12/3, 6.72M) reports that researcher Dr. Jonas Dörner, said, “There are
concerns about the products’ potential adverse side effects on heart function,
especially in adolescents and young adults, but there is little or no
regulation of energy drink sales.”
HealthDay
(12/3, Thompson, 5K) reports that this “study raises concerns that energy
drinks might be bad for the heart, particularly for people who already have
heart disease, said Dr. Kim Williams, vice president of the American College of
Cardiology.” According to Dr. Williams, “We know there are drugs that can
improve the function of the heart, but in the long term they have a detrimental
effect on the heart.” Also covering the story are Forbes
(12/2, 6.03M), MedPage
Today (12/3, Fiore, 122K), AFP-Relaxnews
(12/3), BBC News
(12/2, 1.62M), and the Daily Mail
(UK) (12/3, 2.92M).
POSTED BY: Steven
Almany M.D.
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