Havoc and Chaos: January 9, 2016::End of the day round-up (pg 2)

Ruqia Hassan: Isis executes first female citizen journalist in Raqqa, confirmed by 'Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently'

Isis has executed what is believed to be the first female citizen journalist for reporting inside its territory, Syrian media has reported.

The execution of Ruqia Hassan marks the fifth journalist who reported on Isis to be killed since October, according to Syrian journalism organisation Syria Direct.

Ms Hassan, who also went by the pseudonym Nisan Ibrahim on social media, was a independent reporter. Her death was confirmed by Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), a group exposing human rights abuses from within Syria.

Abu Mohammed, founder of RBSS, tweeted on Saturday that Ms Hassan’s last words were: “I’m in Raqqa and I received death threats, and when Isis [arrests] me and kills me it’s ok because they will cut my head and I have dignity its better than I live in humiliation with Isis [sic]”

Fourteen days from the "5th Annual International Day of Protest Against Hereditary Religion" which is taking place on January 23, 2016. Here is part 1 of 4 from 2014 to tickle your appetite.

Muslims in America - 24 Famous celebrities who are Muslim - Pictures - CBS News 

From the "pen" of Yvette D'Entremont, aka the "SciBabe"

Why Your Detox Is Bullsh*t

These juice cleanses generally claim to give you more energy, make your skin glow, and help you lose weight by ridding your system of heavy metals, pesticides, and other nefarious yet unnamed toxins … how exactly does apple juice or kale accomplish this, even if it is "cold pressured" or organic? Why couldn't you do this in (much cheaper and more nutritious) salad form? Could any of these websites point me to the mechanism of action or do they just do this via waving their magic wand of organic-iness?

Let me point out: In order to be detoxed, you first have to be, well, "toxed." And you're probably not. If you actually had a build-up of heavy metals or pesticides in your body, you'd be crazy sick. There are specific symptoms to having both of these "toxins" inside of you. In fact, different metals and pesticides have specific symptoms, like muscle spasms and breathing difficulties. Bottom line? Breakouts and feeling a little rundown aren't symptoms of any of them, and you need REAL MEDICINE — dimercaprol chelation and atropine, respectively — for treatment. Not juice.

And why else shouldn't you do a juice cleanse? Suja's three-day program drains you of $162, and that's pretty standard. For that much, I expect perkier boobs, fuller hair, and Republicans and Democrats to act like grown-ups. Instead, you're just getting juice. The only real thing these programs cleanse is the money right out of your wallet.
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More ridiculously, colon hydrotherapy — aka a colon cleanse or a colonic — is a service offered at some spas, during which some 60 liters of water are piped into your bowels and the "toxins" are "plumbed" straight out of you. That sounds nice and cleansing, doesn't it?

Nope. Removing toxins? You're just forcibly giving yourself diarrhea. There's no toxin or waste build-up the water is removing. This is just fecal matter that would have been expelled naturally (in time) by your body anyway, but with added potential complications — like intestinal parasites, bowel perforation, and heart failure. In fact, this article from The Journal of Family Practice reported the following adverse effects due to colon cleansing:

Case reports also have noted back and pelvic abscesses after colonic hydrotherapy, fatal aeroportia (gas accumulation in the mesenteric veins) with air emboli, rectal perforations, perineal gangrene, acute water intoxication, coffee enema-associated colitis and septicemia, and deaths due to amebiasis.

The discovery of a 300-year-old ship at a construction site has archaeologists ecstatic

“It’s very rare. This almost never happens,” said Dan Baicy, the hard-hatted field director for Thunderbird Archeology, the firm watching for historic evidence during construction. “In 15 years that I’ve done this work, I’ve never run into this kind of preservation in an urban environment where there’s so much disturbance.”

On Monday, naval archaeologists joined the crew at the site to help dismantle the vessel, timber by timber, looking for artifacts and markings that could identify it and show where it sailed and what it carried. The public is invited to view the findings Tuesday from 10 a.m. until noon, after which the wood will be removed from the site.
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The find has archaeologists surprised and ecstatic. Unlike the warehouse, which was noted in old city records, there was no known documentation of the buried ship’s existence.

Call for police probe of anti-gay hate speech in Malawi

Anti-gay politicians and preachers in Malawi have responded harshly to the government’s decision on Dec. 19 to continue the country’s moratorium on arrests for violations of its law against same-sex intercourse.

In return, the Malawi Law Society has asked police and the Malawi Human Rights Commission to investigate recent anti-gay statements as hate speech, a criminal offense.

Enforcement of the law has been suspended since November 2012 while courts decide whether the law is unconstitutional and politicians decide whether it should be repealed. The law calls for sentences of 14 years for violations by men and five years for women.

Louisville woman accused of assaulting, robbing disabled man after he jokes that he doesn't believe in God

A woman was arrested at the Hall of Justice in downtown Louisville Tuesday afternoon, months after police say she assaulted and robbed a man after he joked that he did not believe in God.

According to an arrest warrant, the incident took place on Oct. 20.

Police say that 49-year-old Laura Reid was visiting a disabled man in his home. At one point, police say, Reid asked the victim if he believed in God, and he jokingly replied that he did not.

According to an arrest warrant, Reid became angry with his response, so she picked up his metal cane and began beating him on the head and body, hitting him so hard that the cane broke.

Warning from the Birding Community to the Terrorists in Oregon: We're Watching You

Just a friendly warning from the birding and wildlife photography community to the Oregon terrorists. We are watching your every move, and we have been watching you for a long time. And yes absolutely you are domestic terrorists of the worst kind, and the truth about your decades of constant poaching of protected wildlife around Malheur and other wildlife refuges, national parks, national forests and BLM lands has been well-documented. For years those of us who are wildlife photographers, birdwatchers and carers of wildlife, have been documenting the activities of you poachers and criminals around many of our nation's wildlife refuges. With our powerful cameras, and ability to move unseen in the wilderness, we have found and documented your illegal hunts, your illegal traps and all sorts of illicit activities, and are constantly feeding that information to law enforcement, and we have finally got many of you poachers on the run and into jails. And I for one am a westerner sick to death of you welfare queens and cheats living off of BLM land, illegally gutting our wilderness and our wildlife,,,

Can an Aspirin a Day Help Prevent a Heart Attack?

Since my stroke in July I have been on a low-dose "pirin" regiment (think Robin Williams, "The Birdcage" with Nathan Lane).  Being that I have also had 2 heart-attacks in the last 10 years, I never thought twice about my doctors recommendation and I was in no shape to question it. (Long story but I am not happy with the medical care I am receiving or received at the hospital ER.  Bare bones basics, and the ER twit doctor labeled me in his report as a "non-compliant patient with an excuse for everything" after a 10-15 minute 'consult' and not aware of my patient history.)

Now based on articles elsewhere (ie. U.S. Task Force Narrows Recommendation for Aspirin Use), one would think some new insight was recently discovered.  But alas, this is "old" news (from 2014) although still pertinent.

Scientific evidence shows that taking an aspirin daily can help prevent a heart attack or stroke in some people, but not in everyone. It also can cause unwanted side effects.

According to Robert Temple, M.D., deputy director for clinical science at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one thing is certain: You should use daily aspirin therapy only after first talking to your health care professional, who can weigh the benefits and risks.
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The bottom line is that in people who have had a heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular problems, daily aspirin therapy is worth considering. And if you're thinking of using aspirin therapy, you should first talk to your health care professional to get an informed opinion, Temple says.
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If your health care professional recommends daily aspirin to lower the risk of a heart attack and clot-related stroke, read the labels carefully to make sure you have the right product. Some drugs combine aspirin with other pain relievers or other ingredients, and should not be used for long-term aspirin therapy.

Can an Aspirin a Day Help Prevent a Heart Attack?

Food Stamps Are Worth Double at These Michigan Farmers Markets—Helping Families and Local Businesses - NationofChange

ATTENTION MICHIGAN READERS:: 

(Please note that the left side of the article is cut off, this is occurring in all browsers.  As per a suggestion from comments, copy+paste into a suitable word processing program to read.) 

Zilke is a farmer in Ypsilanti, Mich., population 20,000, where more than a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. Every week, she sells her vegetables at Downtown Ypsilanti Farmers Market, one of two in the city. Nearly 40 percent of the shoppers at both hubs are on some form of food assistance funding from the government.

The two farmers markets first started accepting payment through food assistance programs back in 2006. But that year, they only received $378 from the program.

But in 2010, an incentive program called Double Up Food Bucks expanded from Detroit to Ypsilanti. The program matches SNAP money (formerly known as “food stamps”) dollar-for-dollar when people spend it at farmers markets. That means shoppers can double up to $20 in spending on fruits and veggies. By 2014 customers spent more than $39,000 at these markets through initial SNAP dollars combined with Double Up’s supplement.

So instead of a customer base with $20 of SNAP money to spend, farmers like Zilke had a customer base with $40 to spend. “I make more money, I expand my business, and then I can hire more people,” Zilke said. “If I hire more people I then improve the bottom line of my community. It’s a ripple effect.”

That’s why the USDA is providing $31 million in grants to finance organizations around the country that, like Double Up Food Bucks, provide SNAP incentives. The grants were announced March 31 and were authorized under the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program in last year’s Farm Bill. Double Up Food Bucks will receive $5.1 million and will be matched in full by private donations.

Food Stamps Are Worth Double at These Michigan Farmers Markets—Helping Families and Local Businesses - NationofChange

Whooping cough epidemic declared in California - CNN.com

Whooping cough cases have spread rapidly in the United States this year, with a 24% increase nationally in the number of cases, compared to January through April of last year, according to the CDC.

Other states are reporting similar problems. The Mobile County Health Department in Alabama, for example, recently noted an "alarming" rise of cases locally, with 18 cases in May and June. That's more than all the reported cases in Mobile for 2013, health officials say.

If you do catch whooping cough, you will typically be treated with antibiotics. Doctors often also treat all the family members in an infected person's house to prevent transmission.

Whooping cough epidemic declared in California - CNN.com

In Landmark Ruling, Jury Says Fracking Company Must Pay $3 Million To Sickened Family | ThinkProgress

A Texas family claiming they were sickened because of pollution from hydraulic fracturing operations near their home should be awarded $2.95 million for their troubles, a jury ruled on Tuesday.

The Parr family had sued Aruba Petroleum Inc. in 2011, alleging the oil and gas producer exposed them to hazardous gases, chemicals and industrial waste that seeped into the air from 22 wells drilled near the family’s 40-acre plot of land, which sits atop the Barnett Shale.

The jury returned a 5-1 verdict saying Aruba “intentionally created a private nuisance,” awarding $275,000 for losses on property value, $2 million for past physical pain and suffering, $250,000 for future physical pain and suffering, and $400,000 for mental anguish.

“They’re vindicated,” David Matthews, one of the Parr’s attorneys, wrote on his firm’s blog Tuesday. “I’m really proud of the family that went through what they went through … It’s not easy to go through a lawsuit and have your personal life uncovered and exposed to the extent this family went through.”

A statement provided to ThinkProgress from Aruba on Wednesday lamented the jury’s verdict, but did not indicate whether it would appeal.

In Landmark Ruling, Jury Says Fracking Company Must Pay $3 Million To Sickened Family | ThinkProgress

Blood-suckers in Brooklyn: how the old world medicine of leeches survives | Money | theguardian.com

Plucinski, an immigrant from Poland, places leeches on clients’ bodies to cure ailments, from sciatica to migraines, and for general good health. The designated leeching zone is an intimate space sectioned off to the side by hanging white sheets. Empty metal folding chairs and a cushioned table line the curtained off area where clients typically wait in white robes taking their leeches. Plucinski purchases all his leeches online from leech farms, which are delivered by courier.

This seems, to say the least, retro. Blood-sucking leeches are right up there with medieval bloodletting and plague for New Yorkers, the stuff of dusty old folios found in ancient libraries. But for some middle-aged immigrants from eastern Europe or Russia, hirudotherapy is considered an old folk remedy, popular with their grandparents’ generation. Some of them saw jars of leeches at pharmacies as children and remember sick relatives who were treated with leeches behind closed doors.

The tension between old and new is a big part of Plucinski’s existence. His clinic is in an area that remains, as it has been for decades, predominantly Polish. There are a few hipsters scattered through the neighborhood – runoff from the $4,000-a-month gentrified lofts of Williamsburg. He’s used to skepticism.

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Leeching might sound primitive but the FDA approved leeches as “medical devices” in 2004 to drain pooled blood after surgery. The most common use is after a digit replant (when a severed digit is surgically reattached) and reconstructive flap surgery, similar to a skin graft. Leeches suck out the pooling blood, known as venous congestion. If oxygenated blood can’t reach the digit or skin flap tissue because of pooled blood, it dies, which results in amputation or removal.

“This is going to sound hokey,” says Dr Matthew Carty, a plastic surgeon at Brigham & Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston who occasionally uses leeches, “but it’s really a reflection of the majesty of nature. With all of our science and technology, there is this organism in nature that can do just as good a job in terms of serving this function as the most advanced surgical techniques we have.”

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According to Plucinski 98% of all heath problems can be cured through leeches, diet and annual colonics. He claims to have helped one client with paralysis walk without his two canes after eight sessions; another client, he says, was spared a triple bypass surgery; ovarian cysts were said to have disappeared from another. More modest improvements include better sleep, metabolism, and energy and “less gasses”.

“Leeches work on many different levels,” explains Plucinski. “You feel pain there, you put a leech there,” he states plainly – on the knee for a torn meniscus, on the gums for a gum infection, and it’s obvious where they’d go for hemorrhoids.

Blood-suckers in Brooklyn: how the old world medicine of leeches survives | Money | theguardian.com

The toll of the anti-vaccination movement, in one devastating graphic - latimes.com

These manifestations underscore the folly and irresponsibility of giving credence to anti-vaccination fanatics, as Katie Couric did on her network daytime TV show in December. We examined the ethics of that ratings stunt here and here.

Among other worthwhile examinations of the impact of the anti-vaxxers, see this piece about growing up unvaccinated in Great Britain in the 1970s, and this disturbing piece by Julia Ioffe about her battle with whooping cough, a disease no American should have.

The lesson of all this is that vaccination is not an individual choice to be made by a parent for his or her own offspring. It's a public health issue, because the diseases contracted by unvaccinated children are a threat to the community. That's what public health is all about, and an overly tolerant approach to non-medical exemptions -- and publicity given to anti-vaccination charlatans like Wakefield and McCarthy by heedless promoters like, sadly, Katie Couric, affect us all.

The toll of the anti-vaccination movement, in one devastating graphic - latimes.com

From Left Field: What I have learned about acid/alkaline diets

Early today I got involved in a bit of a Facebook discussion concerning alkaline water and the acid/alkaline diet fad.  It started out with a friend posting a simple video concerning what to do with leftover turkey (ended up a nice soup which looked nummy) and making a home made alkalized water (what some also call mineralized water). 

Recently many health conscious pages have been also touted these homemade concoctions as well, most have labeled them as "fruit water," "mineralized water," or plain ole flavored water;  all use these titles basically as an alternative to drinking soda.  Something I am all for though a horrible example of as I sit here chugging a 2 liter down like nothing.  (I am still tweaking and experimenting trying to find a palatable alternative to soda.  Problem is getting decent ingredients where I live, just haven't found that right combination just yet.)  So as a whole I am not adverse to these homemade flavored waters, it is when, what I consider, bad health claims come creeping in that I become concerned.  Let me explain,,,

Back in 2004 an individual whom I have admired was diagnosed with breast cancer.  In an interview she mentioned the acid/alkaline theory of dieting.  That was the first time I remember hearing those words.   What I don't remember, is what influence said diet played in her role to recovery.  That person was Melissa Etheridge, a singer-songwriter whose music I love.  I remember not long after that looking for any information concerning said diet; one of the few that I follow with any regularity.  (The low carb/no carb being another, and more recently the paleo-diet.)

Over the past 9 years I have read quite a bit, so when I see a statement such as this (from another individual in the conversation),

Are you saying that alkalized water has no benefits because it's immediately turned acidic in the stomach…Tums and antacids help people, why not alkalized water to act almost as a Tums tablet. [Corrected for punctuation]

or this

So consuming high alkaline foods and water doesn't put your body in a more alkaline state?  I've read where people use the pH strips and measure before and after a change to diet and see a difference. Wouldn't that indicate the body is in a more alkaline state if the pH measurements of the body waste change?  [Corrected for punctuation]

Red flags begin to fly, and here is why.

First the initial friend that posted this caught me a bit by surprise, just by mentioning "alkalized water."  It was not a phrase I was expecting to come from his fingers.  In response I wrote a very simplistic view of digestion,

Considering our stomachs are acidic by nature, no food can change its acidity level.  This now acid laden "food"  then enters our intestines where secretions from our pancreas neutralize the stomach acids.  It matters not what you eat, the food in the stomach is acidic and the food in the intestines is alkaline. [Rephrased for better clarity]

In other words, our stomach is an acidic environment (a pH of about 3). Food enters the stomach (regardless of its acid or alkaline-producing qualities and is immediately combined with hydrochloric acid (HCL) before it enters the digestive tract.  Very bad for the body IF there wasn't a naturally occurring means for the body to reduce/eliminate that acidity. Lo and behold, guess what the pancreas does, it secretes a slurry to cancels out the acid the stomach has just introduced into the rest of the body. So, regardless of the food you have just eaten, it will be combined with a highly acid substance and then subsequently a highly alkaline substance.

Now compare what I wrote above, which is accepted by the medical community, scientists, and nutritionists as being the correct mechanization of the digestive process to this:

Won’t my stomach acid render alkaline water consumption useless?

No. There is no hydrochloric acid pouch in our body, and the stomach wall makes sodium bicarbonate to alkalize our food not digest our food. HCL is only produced when we eat or drink acid-forming foods and drinks and is balanced in equal proportion by sodium bicarbonate production.,,,

Before pointing to the obvious, I will say this, the above quote is taken directly from a company web page (Alkaline Ionized Water & Water Ionizer Myths Debunked) that touts the benefits of water ionizers and alkaline ionized water.  Their contraption sells for $1200+, the "why" of my concern.  I do not want to see anyone waste $1200 on something that does not/will not provide any benefits.

Now back to their incorrect information,,, Uhm, ok that whole statement is incorrect.  No, the stomach does not produce sodium bicarbonate; it's an acidic environment.  No alkalinization does not occur in the stomach; it occurs in the intestines.  No, HCL is not just produced when we eat or drink acid-forming foods and drinks; HCL is  "always" present in the stomach.

As for the Tums analogy, ",,,Tums and antacids help people, why not alkalized water to act almost as a Tums tablet."

Although antacids do briefly alter stomach acidity, one could devour a whole bottle, but our stomach's acid content would return to its normal state. Our bloodstream and organs control acidity in a very narrow range, anything that changed acidity in our bodies would make us very sick and could even kill.

Think of it this way, what happens when you hold your breath? Carbon dioxide accumulates in your bloodstream very rapidly and your blood turns acidic. Do it too long you will become uncomfortable or even pass out, which forces you to start breathing again and the pH returns to normal. Or if your kidneys are damaged and cannot regulate the acidity of your bloodstream, chemical reactions stop, poisons accumulate in your bloodstream, and you die.

The main premise behind this diet, when we eat “acid-forming” products our bodies turn “acidic” and illness results. To compensate we then leach calcium from our bones. If we continue to maintain a high acid diet, our bodies will shed calcium and we can end up with osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases.   On the face of it this may make sense, BUT proponents of the acid/alkaline diet ignore one key fact, the kidneys, not bone, regulate blood pH.

When we digest things like protein, the acids are buffered by bicarbonate ions in the blood.  This produces carbon dioxide and salts, which are exhaled through the lungs, and are excreted by the kidneys respectively.  This process is cyclic and is how the body maintains the pH of the blood.  As the kidneys produce ‘new’ bicarbonate ions, which are returned to the blood to replace the bicarbonate that was initially used to buffer the acid.  No involvement from the bones whatsoever.

A second premise one may come across centers around this question posed to me:

I've read where people use the pH strips and measure before and after a change to diet and see a difference. Wouldn't that indicate the body is in a more alkaline state if the pH measurements of the body waste change?

Yes and no.  This is an apple to oranges comparison. 

There are two places where an individual can test their own pH, saliva and urine. The problem with that is the urine and saliva do not reflect the OVERALL pH balance of your body. Think of it this way,  you can get a pH reading of 6 via urine or saliva (some have reported lower) BUT if your overall body pH was that low you be dead.

In regards to body waste, ALL foods will leave an end-product (alkaline ash/acidic ash), and only our urine can have its acidity changed. BUT since urine is contained in the bladder it does not affect the pH of any other part of your body. It is a sealed system so to speak.

Here is a bit more in depth answer.  Yes, foods can influence our urine pH.  No, foods don’t influence our blood pH (overall body pH).  Here is why,,,

All foods leave behind acid or alkaline ash which is determined by the relative content of acid-forming components (ie. phosphate and sulfur) and alkalis (ie. calcium, magnesium, and potassium.).  In general, animal products and grains are acid forming, while fruits and vegetables are alkali forming.   So if we have, let's say, steak and eggs for breakfast, our urine will be more acidic;  if we have a kale smoothie it will tend towards alkaline.  But bare in mind, our urine is the waste dump of metabolic processes, our bladders are the sealed storage container. But measuring the urinary pH to estimate of the blood’s pH  is nonsensical, because your blood pH does not change unless you’re seriously, seriously, ill.  (Keep that thought in you mind.)


Proponents of the alkaline diet have put forth ideas about how an acidic diet harms our health. The claim  that we can change the pH of our blood by changing the foods we eat, and that acidic blood causes disease (while alkaline blood prevents it), is not true. As mentioned above, the body tightly regulates the pH of our blood and we cannot influence it by changing our diet. Eat a whole bottle of Tums and see how well you feel afterwards.

[There are metabolic diseases, acidosis and its counter-part alkalosis, that are real afflictions caused by pathological conditions such as chronic renal insufficiency.  This diet in no way addresses these issues, nor does my response.  I am aware of them due to my diabetes and a related issue of diabetic ketoacidosis, hence my overall interest in this particular diet.]

One final note and I'll shut up.  This was not brought up in the preceding discussion, but was mentioned in passing by another friend a few weeks ago.  It goes something like this, "cancer cells grow faster in an acidic environment."

There are two problems with this statement (besides not being able to change blood pH), first these are TEST TUBE studies.  Second, while it is true that cancer cells cannot survive in an alkaline environment but neither can any of the other cells in your body.  OK I lied there is a third issue, it is true that an acidic environment causes cancer cells to grow BUT it’s not the acidic environment that causes the cancer; it’s the cancer that causes the acidic environment.

This is general knowledge folks.  If you trust bio-chemistry, medicine and nutrition etc. it is easy to see the bunk involved in these claims.  If on the other hand you have a distrust, for whatever reason, then go ahead and spend $1200+.  But a word of caution:

Can’t I make my own alkaline water with lemon juice, baking soda or pH drops?

Technically the pH level of water can be modified slightly by adding certain substances, however they will not necessarily reach the optimal pH level of 9.5. More importantly, alkalizing the water without the use of a water ionizer will not reduce the ORP, so the water will still be oxidizing to the body and create free radicals which destroy cells. Ionization is also the only way to microcluster the water, which allows it to hydrate up to six times better than non-ionized water, and detoxify cells more thoroughly. For these same reasons, drinking alkaline water from a non-electric ionizer or by making your own with alkaline water pouches and the like will not provide the bulk of the benefits that an electric water ionizer does.

Even they say making your own isn't good enough!!  I wonder why?

[Please note:  This post is based on 8 years of digging for information for personal use. I regret that when I gathered this information I never thought I would be conveying it in any meaningful way and therefore I do not have citations for this information.  Basically these are my "notes" re-written, I am not the originator of any of this information.  Also note this is not medical advice!!]

Energy drinks improve heart function: study

Keywords,,,healthy individuals at rest,,,168 ml,,,need to focus on whether such benefits persist after long term consumption of energy drinks, and what the effects are of consuming these drinks during physical activity,,,ya think!!

"In recent years the energy drink market has exploded, with more people than ever before turning to these products as quick 'pick me ups', whether to stay awake during all night study vigils or gain the edge in sport," said Dr Cameli. "With energy drinks containing both caffeine and taurine concerns have been raised of adverse effects on the heart. While caffeine increases blood pressure, studies suggest that taurine may stimulate the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum."

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"Taken together these results show that energy drinks enhance contractions of both the left and right ventricles, thereby delivering a positive effect on myocardial function," said Dr Cameli. "This could be explained by the inotropic effect of taurine that, as previously demonstrated, stimulates the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum." He continued: "Our study was performed in young healthy individuals at rest. Future studies need to focus on whether such benefits persist after long term consumption of energy drinks, and what the effects are of consuming these drinks during physical activity. It will also be important to determine which of the effects are induced in patients with cardiac disease to further our understanding of the potential benefits or risks of energy drink consumption."

Energy drinks improve heart function: study