Man drinks anti-drowsy energy drinks like 'daily bread', receives warning from doctor

Due to frequent long-distance driving, the man drank an entire pack of energy drinks at night. During the day, when he got home, he slept soundly, barely moving. When he went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor warned him that he was at risk of a stroke at any time.

Drinking energy drinks and staying up late are habits that are harmful to health - Illustration photo

37 years old with "sky high" blood pressure

Doctor Doan Du Manh, member of the Vietnam Vascular Disease Association, shared that he received a 37-year-old male patient with high blood pressure.

The patient worked as a long-distance truck driver, often had to stay up late, and drank a lot of energy drinks to stay awake while driving. During a routine health check, he was unexpectedly found to have high blood pressure of 180/100 mmHg.

"When receiving the results, the patient was very surprised, not believing that he was so young but had such high blood pressure. I was also surprised because the patient was only 37 years old but already had stage 3 hypertension, a dangerous level that could lead to a stroke at any time," said Dr. Manh.

To rule out the possibility of a temporary increase in blood pressure when going to the hospital due to anxiety, the doctor had the patient wear a 24-hour blood pressure monitor (Holter) and monitor it at home. The results showed that the blood pressure index was always maintained at 160-190 mmHg, sometimes even reaching 200 mmHg, even when sleeping.

The patient continued to be prescribed renal angiography, brain angiography, and thyroid examination to find the cause, but the results were completely normal.

He was diagnosed with essential hypertension in young people - a form of high blood pressure not caused by underlying disease but by lifestyle and living habits.

Through investigation of the patient’s medical history, it was found that to stay awake while driving at night, he once drank a whole pack of energy drinks in one night. During the day, when he got home, he slept heavily and hardly moved.

After being treated with two blood pressure medications, the doctor advised him to change his lifestyle: not staying up late, not drinking energy drinks, limiting the use of coffee and alcohol, and exercising regularly. However, the patient shared that it was difficult to do so because his job as a driver often required him to stay up late.

Harmful to health due to unscientific habits

Dr. Manh said that energy drinks are a familiar drink, used by many Vietnamese people. However, energy drinks often contain high levels of caffeine and sugar. These two ingredients cause the heart rate to increase, blood vessels to constrict, leading to high blood pressure, dizziness, fatigue, and even heart rhythm disturbances.

For people who already have high blood pressure, abusing energy drinks and staying up late regularly "adds fuel to the fire", causing blood pressure to spike and increasing the risk of stroke many times over.

Doctor Manh recommends that for people with high blood pressure, safe and heart-healthy drinks are filtered water, fruit juice, and fresh vegetables.

While working, if you feel tired, you should do light exercise, walk around, and breathe deeply to stay awake instead of abusing stimulants.

Nowadays, high blood pressure is getting younger and younger, the cause is closely related to modern diet and lifestyle such as prolonged stress due to work pressure, study, lack of sleep; lack of exercise, sitting for long periods, laziness in exercising ; diet high in fat, fried foods, fast food..., causing metabolic disorders.

Regular use of alcohol, tobacco, energy drinks, and stimulants causes vasoconstriction and increased heart rate.

Dr. Manh warns that an unhealthy lifestyle can cause diseases to progress silently, but young people often ignore it because they feel healthy. By the time the body shows symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, and they go to the doctor, the disease has often progressed seriously.

"High blood pressure in young people is not only a chronic health problem but also a potential risk for early complications such as stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney and eye damage, so everyone needs to be especially careful," Dr. Manh emphasized.

WILLOW

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/uong-nuoc-tang-luc-chong-buon-ngu-nhu-com-bua-nguoi-dan-ong-nhan-canh-bao-tu-bac-si-20251016203718331.htm