Red Bull Drink Seen to Increase Stroke Risk

"CANBERRA (Reuters) Aug 15 - Just one can of the popular stimulant energy drink Red Bull can increase the risk of MI or stroke, even in young people, Australian medical researchers said on Friday.

The caffeine-loaded beverage, popular with university students and adrenaline sport fans to give them "wings", increased blood viscosity.

Scott Willoughby and colleagues tested the cardiovascular systems of 30 young adults one hour before and one hour after consuming one 250-ml can of sugar-free Red Bull.

The results showed "normal people develop symptoms normally associated with cardiovascular disease" after consuming the drink, created in the 1980s by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz based on a similar Thai energy drink.

"One hour after they drank Red Bull, (their blood systems) were no longer normal. They were abnormal like we would expect in a patient with cardiovascular disease," Willoughby, lead researcher from the Cardiovascular Research Centre at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, told the Australian newspaper."

"But Willoughby said Red Bull could be deadly when combined with stress or high blood pressure, impairing proper blood vessel function and possibly lifting the risk of blood clotting.

"If you have any predisposition to cardiovascular disease, I'd think twice about drinking it," he said ."

Read full article from eMedicine.com.

THANK GOD I NEVER LIKED RED BULL.

Then I suddenly wonder, am I predisposing my dad to AMI or stroke, since whenever he goes hypo, we'll feed him with redbull (he likes it, plus its reaally sweet and when he goes hypo, he goes REALLY hypo. Like 2.0-3.0.)

Goodness. Now I'll really think twice about drinking red bull. :S.