Urgent energy drink warning after man suffers life-changing stroke

A fit and healthy 50-year-old man was left permanently unable to feel his left side after his daily energy drink consumption caused him to suffer a stroke. 

The unidentified patient was otherwise completely fit and healthy, leaving doctors baffled by his sky-high blood pressure. 

It was only after discovering his eight-a-day energy drink habit that they realised the cause of the blood clot in his brain. 

Now, experts writing in the BMJ Case Reports journal have called for stricter regulation over the drinks, which are regularly consumed by more than 1.7 million Britons. 

Concerns over the safety of energy drinks – some of which contain more caffeine than three shots of espresso – has been raised regularly in recent years.

The drinks have been linked to adverse effects like insomnia, headaches, rapid heart rate and dehydration. 

Yet, with some brands available for as little as 50p a can, many of the energy boosting drinks can be cheaper than bottled water and are a popular pick-me-up among young people.

Now, experts are calling for even tighter regulation of powerful energy drinks, after a healthy man’s daily consumption caused him to suffer a stroke. 

The man, 50, was hospitalised after experiencing weakness and numbness on his left side. 

He had also developed difficulties with his balance, walking, swallowing and speech. 

Doctors taking his blood pressure were shocked to find it far above average – measuring at 254/150mm Hg. 

His symptoms were later found to be due to a stroke in the region of the brain responsible for sensory perception and movement. 

After being given drugs in hospital to reduce his blood pressure to normal levels, he was sent home. 

But his blood pressure steadily rose again and remained persistently high, despite doctors ramping up his medication.

After further questioning from baffled doctors, the patient revealed he drank an average of eight energy drinks a day – each of which contained 160mg of caffeine. 

Combined, he had been consuming around 1300mg of caffeine – more than three times the recommended maximum intake of 400mg. 

Caffeine is a stimulant which triggers your blood vessels to constrict, increasing heart rate, studies have shown. 

While this spike in blood pressure is temporary, the NHS warns that drinking more than four cups of coffee per day, about 400mg of caffeine, can increase your blood pressure in the long run.

After giving up the habit, the man’s blood pressure finally returned to normal, and he was able to come off medication. 

But he never regained full sensation on his left side. 

‘I obviously wasn’t aware of the dangers drinking energy drinks were causing to myself,’ he later said. 

‘I have been left with numbness [in my] left hand side hand and fingers, foot and toes even after 8 years.’ 

Other Britons are likely to be similarly unaware of the heart-related risks of drinking too many energy drinks, noted the report’s authors. 

‘The year 2018 saw major UK supermarkets implement a voluntary ban on sales of [these drinks] to under 16s in a drive to tackle obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay,’ they wrote.

‘But less explored are the possible increased risks of [energy drinks] for cardiovascular disease.’ 

Potential risks include restricted blood supply or blood clots, as well as bleeding in the brain – or stroke – particularly in young people with an otherwise low risk of stroke. 

This is due to many popular energy drinks often containing even more caffeine than stated, because of poor labelling practices, they explained. 

While drinks will declare the amount of ‘pure caffeine’ they contain, other ingredients can contain hidden caffeine. 

Medicinal plant guarana, for example – a stimulant and common additive in high-street energy drinks – is thought to contain twice the amount of caffeine as a coffee bean. 

Despite this, it will not be tallied as part of the total caffeine in the drink. 

Taurine – an amino acid found in meat, fish and eggs – is another such additive. 

It isn’t used to build proteins in the body, like other amino acids, but it does have a range of roles, including regulating the amount of calcium in nerve cells and controlling inflammation.

Studies have long suggested that in small amounts, found in the likes of salmon at 94mg per 100g, it can improve heart function and even reduce total cholesterol.

High levels, however, have been shown to cause vomiting, upset stomach, dizziness, tiredness, diarrhoea, and constipation.

The interaction of guarana, taurine and other ingredients commonly found in energy drinks – herbal root ginseng and natural sugar glucuronolactone – increases the risk of stroke, the writers concluded. 

‘The average [energy drink] is said to contain around 80 mg of caffeine per 250 ml serving, compared with 30 mg in tea and 90 mg in coffee, but in some cases can contain up to 500 mg in a single serving,’ they explained. 

And stroke isn’t the only risk associated with drinking too many energy drinks. 

British researchers who reviewed 57 studies that included over 1.2 million children also found clear links between consumption of energy drinks and increased frequency of headaches, irritation, tiredness and stomach aches.

Published in the journal Public Health last year, it also found reduced levels of sleep duration and quality, and increased risk of emotional difficulties, such as stress, anxiety and depression.

Caffeine poisoning, also called caffeine toxicity, is another uncommon but dangerous condition that occurs if a person consumes over 1,200 milligrams of caffeine.

Medics have anecdotally reported that most visits to A&E related to caffeine poisoning are from young adults who mixed energy drinks with alcohol or other substances.