At some point in our lives, most of us have really consumed energy drinks due to various reasons such as a looming deadline, the need to have loads of energy in doing something and the like. Recently, a new case study has revealed that although energy drinks are usually considered as harmless, it is now found to have potential risks to the liver from such over-consumption.
A previously healthy 50-year-old man was diagnosed with acute hepatitis after drinking multiple energy drinks daily over a three-week span of consuming the said beverage. The man has allegedly started losing his appetite and has claimed that he started experiencing worse conditions of abdominal pain which is normally followed by a sensation of dizziness which then leads to vomiting.
It was then until he secreted dark colored urine and started to notice jaundice on his body when he decided to go to the emergency department of a hospital. As per CBC News, the 50-year-old construction worker told his doctors that he's not drinking, smoking or even using any kind of illicit drugs, but has admittedly been using energy drinks to help him get through his entire active workday.
In a report released by Medical News Today, it was reportedly shown in the examination result that the number of enzymes known as "transaminases" was found to be elevated which basically causes the inflammation or damage to the cells in the liver. Just after a liver biopsy, it was then revealed to be acute hepatitis, and doctors have also found a probable evidence of chronic hepatitis C infection.
However, in one of their statements released, the doctors claimed that although the 50-year old patient was diagnosed to have hepatitis C virus (HCV), they were still not convinced that the HCV found on his body was responsible for his acute hepatitis. Additionally, the doctors explained that acute hepatitis was most likely induced by the excessive intake of vitamin B3, also known as niacin.
Furthermore, experts highly emphasize that as energy drinks are continuously being introduced to the market, consumers are also expected to be aware of the potential health threats of their various ingredients. While vitamins and nutrients such as niacin content are present in large quantities, it is seemingly considered by many experts as the primary contributor to the hazards of toxicity and harmful accumulation of such component considering the excessive intake of these beverages.
