‘ENERGY’ DOWNER

Power drinks a risk to liver

POUNDING TOO many energy drinks could wreck your liver — as much as too many beers.

A 50-year-old construction worker developed acute hepatitis, likely from gulping up to five energy drinks a day for three weeks, according to a BMJ Case Report released Tuesday.

Although the man had chronic hepatitis C, his doctors blamed the beverage boosters for his liver failure. Chronic hep C typically produces no symptoms, and the patient’s sudden-onset abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, jaundice and dark urine correlated with his energy drink habit. Plus, the symptoms were resolved once he stopped consuming the drinks.

This is the second reported case linking an energy drink binge with liver failure. An otherwise healthy 22-year-old woman with no history of hep C was also diagnosed with acute hepatitis in 2011. She had downed 10 cans of the stimulant a day for two weeks.

Both subjects consumed too much Vitamin B3, or niacin, which hurt their livers. Each bottle of the construction worker’s unnamed energy drink had 200% of his recommended daily value of the vitamin.

“Niacin is a known drug that can cause liver toxicity,” Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at Northwell Health, told the Daily News. “We see lots of abnormal liver tests and even liver failure from complementary alternative medicine, which include these energy drinks.”

The report by BMJ. which provides medical information, noted that energy drinks contain caffeine and stimulants like niacin, guarana and ginseng that can harm the heart, liver and kidneys.

“As the energy drink market continues to rapidly expand, consumers should be aware of the potential risks of their various ingredients,” the report stated. “Vitamins and nutrients, such as niacin, are present in quantities that greatly exceed the recommended daily intake, lending to their high risk for harmful accumulation and toxicity.”

Sales of energy drinks spiked 60% between 2008 and 2012, according to a 2013 market trends report, which projected more than $21 billion in sales by next year.

And as bottles and cans of stimulating beverages have flown off the shelves, hospitals have treated a rising wave of patients suffering adverse reactions to them. The number of energy drink-related emergency department visits doubled between 2007 and 2011, the Drug Abuse Warning Network reported.