Energy drinks can cause sudden cardiac death. According to an American study, of a group of 144 people who survived a cardiac arrest, five percent had consumed such a drink before the event. The study authors believe that there is likely a genetic cause behind this.
American heart specialist Michael Ackerman analyzed – according to a summary in the German Medical Journal – the medical records of 5,000 patients who were treated for heart rhythm disorders between 2000 and 2023 in the ‘Windland Smith Rice Genetic Heart Rhythm Clinic’. 144 of these people had survived sudden cardiac death. “Seven of these patients (five percent) said they had consumed energy drinks around the time of cardiac arrest,” says the Journal of the German Medical Association.
Case studies show the context
The individual case studies are featured in the study by cardiologists at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recently published in Heart Rhythm (DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.02.018). A 32-year-old woman suffered cardiac arrest eleven weeks after giving birth to a child. She had drunk an energy drink before a sports training session. The cardiac arrest later occurred while she was resting in bed. By Ackerman’s assessment, she may have been weakened from birth, suffered from sleep deprivation and may have been malnourished. This combination, along with the energy drink, may have been the “perfect storm” that led to cardiac arrest. The woman was later fitted with an implantable Defi (ICD – Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) to prevent further incidents.
Another affected person, a 20-year-old man, always drank an energy drink before exercising. He collapsed while sprinting and had to be resuscitated. No clear cause was found in this case either. However, a genetic test showed changes in the ALPK3 gene. A second woman collapsed at work after a verbal argument. Due to a variant in the RYR2 gene, doctors diagnosed tachycardia (palpitations), dependent on stress hormones (catecholamines), which apparently led to ventricular fibrillation. She also received a pacemaker with a Defi function.
If you have heart problems, it is better not to drink energy drinks
“According to Ackerman, all patients stopped consuming energy drinks after surviving cardiac arrest. The cardiologist also advises anyone with a genetic heart disease that can lead to sudden death to urgently weigh the risks and benefits of consuming such drinks,” wrote Deutsche Ärzteblatt. In addition to caffeine, energy drinks often contain taurine and guarana. All three substances are suspected of promoting the development of cardiac arrhythmias.
In a previous epidemiological study, consuming more than 687 milligrams of caffeine per day was associated with a 44 percent increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Taurine had shown a negative effect on the beating rhythm in experiments with rabbit hearts. In addition to caffeine, guarana probably also contains substances such as theophylline, which can also cause heart rhythm disturbances.
“None of this proves that energy drinks are dangerous for healthy young people. However, caution may be required, at least in patients with congenital heart disease,” wrote Deutsche Ärzteblatt.
Source: Krone
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