23 Mar Energy drinks ‘could trigger cardiac arrest’
Posted at 21:36h
in News
The drinks, which often contain large amounts of caffeine and other stimulants like taurine, raise blood pressure and could raise the chance of having an irregular heartbeat, a panel of doctors concluded after looking at results from seven studies.
The US doctors said the evidence energy drinks raised blood pressure was “convincing and concerning”. Specifically, they found energy drinks raised systolic blood pressure by 3.5 points.
It also lengthened a phase of the heart’s electrical cycle called the ‘QT interval’. Having a long QT interval is a sign a person is at greater risk of suffering from an irregular heartbeat, which can be fatal.