Brain hemorrhage due to drinking energy drinks

Drinking energy drinks not only increases the risk of high blood pressure but also causes brain hemorrhage. A study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has recorded the first case of brain hemorrhage as a direct result of drinking energy drinks.

The patient was a 57-year-old man who was fortunate to survive the critical condition. He suffered a brain hemorrhage 15 minutes after consuming the energy drink. Symptoms included tingling and numbness in the right arm and leg, and difficulty walking. A subsequent CT scan revealed a hemorrhage near the left thalamus.

Energy drinks can be extremely dangerous.

“This beverage contains multiple additives that we know very little about their interactions with each other or with caffeine,” explains Anand Venkatraman, a fourth-year resident in the UAB Department of Neurology and lead author of the study. “One is structurally similar to amphetamine, and some are known to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system.”

The combination of these ingredients reportedly puts the patient's body in a state of heightened stress, which can be especially dangerous for patients who already have weakened blood vessels, as it can increase blood pressure, increasing the risk of rupture or bleeding.

It’s not just the ingredients in energy drinks that make them dangerous, but the serving size as well. Although most cans of energy drinks are two servings, patients, like many other consumers, down the entire can at once.

According to Dantri