A 21-year-old who had an eight-a-day energy drink habit was hospitalized after the beverages severely damaged his kidneys.
The unidentified man from Turkey rushed to his local emergency room with nausea and vomiting that had started the day before.
He had no chronic medical problems, wasn’t overweight, didn’t smoke and was a ‘fit healthy young man’ who had never abused drugs or alcohol.
But blood tests revealed his creatinine, a waste product that comes from normal muscle breakdown, was about five times greater than the normal range, while his phosphorus, a mineral that helps form the structure of cell membranes and bones, was three-fold higher than average.
The concerning levels showed his kidneys were not able to properly filter the materials out of his blood, a sign of injury or organ failure. If these levels get too high, they can damage vital organs and lead to heart attack, stroke or organ failure.
The man told doctors that he had been preparing to run a race for the past month and was drinking two liters (68 ounces), of unnamed ‘energy drink’ every day to help him stay alert.
HIS habit had caused stage three acute kidney injury (AKI), which is considered the ‘middle stage’ of acute kidney disease.
A 21-year-old in Turkey suffered stage three acute kidney injury after consuming excess energy drinks (stock image
The unidentified man said he has been drinking two liters of an unspecified energy drink every day for a month to prepare for a race (stock image)
Roughly one in three Americans report consuming an energy drink at least once, and nine percent drink them every day. They are also especially popular among teenagers, with between 30 and 50 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds say they drink them regularly.
About one in 10 Americans, 35million, have some form of kidney disease, and just over 800,000 are in kidney failure, according to the American Kidney Fund.
And about nine in 10 people with the condition have no idea they have it, including one in three Americans with severely reduced kidney function.
The disease causes the kidneys to be unable to properly filter out waste and excess fluid from the blood, causing them to build up in the body, leading to high potassium, which threatens heart function, brittle bones, a weakened immune system, heart attack and stroke.
Acute kidney injuries are usually caused by slowed blood flow to the organs, damage or blocked urine flow.
While the man in the case report had no underlying conditions, his extreme energy drink consumption likely lead to the injury, doctors wrote in a case study.
Energy drinks typically contain a mix of caffeine, B vitamins, sugar, artificial sweeteners and additives like taurine and guarana.
An 8.4-ounce can of a popular energy drink contains 80 milligrams of caffeine, roughly the same as a cup of coffee.
If the man was drinking eight cans, this would add up to 640 milligrams of caffeine, 46 percent more than the FDA’s recommended daily limit of 400 milligrams.
Recent research suggests excessive caffeine consumption, which would be more than 500 milligrams daily, may increase the risk of developing kidney stones.
Caffeine is a stimulant that temporarily raises blood pressure, but in excess amounts, that high blood pressure can put extra strain on the kidneys.
Doctors treating the man also wrote that at least once he consumed an energy drink that contained 150 milligrams per liter of caffeine and 800 milligrams per liter of taurine, which may have made taurine that primary culprit.
Taurine is an non-essential amino acid found naturally in the bone marrow, brain, heart and muscles. It’s also found in meat and fish and is used in certain beverages to energize cells and boost mental clarity.
Taurine is considered safe in small amounts, but higher levels have been shown to cause vomiting, upset stomach, dizziness, diarrhea and constipation.
Along with caffeine, excess taurine can lead to dehydration and high blood pressure, potentially damaging kidneys, though research is limited.
Writing in a medical journal, doctors treating the man suggested the combination of taurine and caffeine likely caused his injury.
The patient was admitted to a kidney clinic and told to stop consuming energy drinks immediately.
‘The most important first step to treat [energy drink]-induced AKI is withholding it,’ his doctors wrote.
His creatinine levels gradually normalized over the course of 16 days, and he did not need dialysis or other long-term treatments.
Doctors continued following him for two years, during which his kidney function remained normal.