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Energy drinks found to cause harder heart contractions

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You may want to think twice about picking up an energy drink next time you’re feeling groggy.

A presentation on Monday, Dec. 2, at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America has put forward research demonstrating that energy drinks, such as Red Bull and Monster, make the heart pump harder.

The  study gave 18 young volunteers, both male and female, MRIs before and after consuming an energy drink. The left ventricle, which is the area of the heart which pumps blood into the aorta before it is sent around the body, was found to contract harder after the drink than before. The presentation did note that the function of the left ventricle seemed to be unaffected aside from the force of contractions.

Energy drinks have been under the spotlight recently because of a rapidly increasing number of hospital visits with connections to the beverages. Between 2007 and 2011 in the United States, energy drink-related emergency room visits  doubled. Some of the drinks have as much as three times the amount of caffeine as a Starbucks coffee.

The research team behind the study suggested that young children and people with heart conditions or complications should avoid the drinks because the affects of the drinks are still somewhat unknown.

Monster Beverage Corp. responded to the study, claiming the reports are exaggerated.

“The author’s study does not document a negative effect on heart function. Although he concludes that the consumption of energy drinks should be restricted based on his study, this conclusion is unsupported by his data and highly misleading. No evidence exists that increased contractility causes arrhythmia,” Monster published in a press release.

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