Abstract
Background and Purpose: Energy drinks (EDs) are suspected to induce potential adverse cardiovascular effects and have recently been shown to reduce cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) in young, healthy subjects. Gender differences in CBFV in response to EDs have not previously been investigated, despite the fact that women are more prone to cardiovascular disturbances such as neurocardiogenic syncope than men. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore gender differences in cerebrovascular and cardiovascular responses to EDs.Methods: We included 45 subjects in a retrospective analysis of pooled data from two previous randomized trials carried out in our laboratory with similar protocols. Beat-to-beat blood pressure, impedance cardiography, transcranial Doppler, and end-tidal carbon dioxide (etCO2) measurements were made for at least 20 min baseline and for 80 min following the ingestion of 355 mL of a sugar-sweetened ED. Gender and time differences in cerebrovascular and cardiovascular parameters were investigated.Results: CBFV was significantly reduced in response to ED, with the greatest reduction observed in women compared with men (−12.3 ± 0.8 vs. −9.7 ± 0.8%, P < 0.05). Analysis of variance indicated significant time (P < 0.01) and gender × time (P < 0.01) effects. The percentage change in CBFV in response to ED was independent of body weight and etCO2. No significant gender difference in major cardiovascular parameters in response to ED was observed.Conclusions: ED ingestion reduced CBFV over time, with a greater reduction observed in women compared with men. Our results have potential implications for women ED consumers, as well as high-risk individuals.
Highlights
Energy drink (ED) consumption has increased over the past decade and with it an increasing number of studies have reported adverse cardiovascular events associated with these drinks (Grasser et al, 2014; Svatikova et al, 2015), such that researchers caution against the use of EDs among children, pregnant women and those with a history of cardiovascular conditions (Higgins et al, 2015)
Linear regression analysis revealed a significant influence of baseline cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) on changes in CBFV (r = 0.7, P < 0.01)
Even when expressed as a percentage of the baseline value, women showed a greater reduction in CBFV than men in response to ED (−12.3 vs. −9.7 %, P < 0.05; Figure 1C)
Summary
Energy drink (ED) consumption has increased over the past decade and with it an increasing number of studies have reported adverse cardiovascular events associated with these drinks (Grasser et al, 2014; Svatikova et al, 2015), such that researchers caution against the use of EDs among children, pregnant women and those with a history of cardiovascular conditions (Higgins et al, 2015). Despite the fact that EDs are often promoted for their ability to increase mental performance, recent studies have shown alterations in cerebrovascular function, cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV), whereby ingestion of an ED acutely reduced CBFV in healthy, young men and women (Grasser et al, 2014, 2015). It is well known that gender differences in CBFV exist under resting conditions, which are suggested to originate from physiological and anatomical differences between men and women (Ackerstaff et al, 1990; Marinoni et al, 1998; Nagai et al, 1998) It is not known whether CBFV differs between genders in response to EDs. gender differences in hemodynamic response to EDs have not previously been reported, despite the fact that the incidence of neurocardiogenic syncope in women is twice that of men (Colman et al, 2004). Energy drinks (EDs) are suspected to induce potential adverse cardiovascular effects and have recently been shown to reduce cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) in young, healthy subjects.
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