Energy drinks cause high blood pressure and fatal heart problems

Energy drinks may cause high blood pressure and potentially deadly heart problems, new research has found.
Doctors are warning people with high blood pressure to 'use caution and judgment' before downing the drinks, after finding they may increase blood pressure and disturb the heart's natural rhythm.



American researchers analysed data from seven previously published studies to determine how consuming energy drinks might impact heart health.
The pooled studies included healthy patients, aged 18 to 45.
In the first part of the pooled analysis, the researchers examined the QT interval - a segment of the heart's rhythm - of 93 people who had just consumed one to three cans of energy drinks.
They found that the QT interval was 10 milliseconds longer for those who had consumed the energy drinks.
The QT interval describes a segment of the heart's rhythm on an electrocardiogram; when prolonged, it can cause serious irregular heartbeats or sudden cardiac death.
The researchers also found that the systolic blood pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, increased an average of 3.5 points in a pool of 132 participants.