Seizures, brain haemorrhage and sudden cardiac death – effects of over-the-counter booze

“I vividly remember a long-haul driver who consumed 14 cans of energy drink and ended up in the hospital with acute heart failure. Fortunately, everything ended happily,” R. Kubilius wrote on his personal Facebook account.

“Energy drinks are only drinks similar to soft drinks in appearance, characterized by a high concentration of caffeine and enriched with stimulating additives – sugar, taurine, glucuronolactone, group B vitamins, L-carnitine, sucrose, as well as ginseng, guarana, mate tea, cocoa, kola nut or ginkgo”, said R. Kubilius.

He gave a specific example showing that energy drinks are a real caffeine bomb.

330 ml. a can of cola contains 45 mg of caffeine, a cup of coffee contains 80 mg, and a 500 ml energy drink contains 150 mg of caffeine!

The professor also noted that the praise of energy drink manufacturers for their product raises doubts. So far, there is a lack of scientific evidence supporting the benefits of energy drinks.

“It appears that the most insidious is precisely the explosive negative health effects of high concentrations of caffeine and additives.”

The consequences of regular and long-term consumption of energy drinks are not well known, especially the dangerous effects on teenagers – perhaps the most numerous group of users of these drinks – have not been sufficiently studied,” noted R. Kubilius.

However, the professor shared the facts that research has already proven:

– immature and developing brain neurons and glial cells may be particularly sensitive to the harmful effects of energy drink consumption (Al-Basher, 2018). Caffeine and taurine are thought to be most responsible for this effect (Brown et al., 2020). For example, a Red Bull drink has as much as 1000 mg of taurine!

– the use of additional taurine in adolescence or adulthood determines negative effects on learning abilities and memory functions. Taurine, by activating GABAA receptors, can interfere with learning and memory processes (Brown, 2020);

– the combination of energy drinks with alcohol is particularly dangerous, as a result of which more alcohol is consumed, the perception of drunkenness decreases (Kaestle, 2018), which can lead to stronger addictions (Marczinski and Fillmore, 2014);

– consumption of energy drinks is associated with harmful effects on the cardiovascular system, rhythm disorders, myocardial infarction, heart failure or even can lead to sudden cardiac death (Piccioni, 2021).

– in a recent study, the authors found that higher concentrations of taurine provoked significantly more arrhythmias (Ellermann et al., 2022);

– cardiovascular effects of energy drinks should be attributed to increased platelet aggregation and endothelial dysfunction leading to thrombosis risk (Worthley et al., 2010);

– acute adverse effects include headache, irritability, agitation, malaise, dehydration, nervousness, insomnia, nausea and/or vomiting, abdominal pain (Khouja, 2022);

– even fatal complications including seizures, intracerebral hemorrhage, acute renal failure, liver failure, or even psychosis have been observed following high consumption of energy drinks (Kim et al., 2018; Kelsey et al., 2019).

– dentists observe that the acidity of energy drinks provokes tooth enamel erosion in teenagers (Duchan et al., 2010).