With exams and course work deadlines coming up almost two in three KU students will be reaching for the cans of energy drinks unaware that they could be seriously damaging their body.

Latest research has shown that energy drinks can lead to heart damage, strokes and heart attacks in young people.

Around 65 per cent of Kingston University students admitted to drinking energy drinks regularly and 26 per cent of these students have experienced side effects from energy drinks. These side effects included shaking, upset stomach, increased heart rate, heart palpitations, a hazy feeling the next day and not being able to sleep.

 Research was carried out on the energy drink Red Bull which claims “to give you wings”. The study was carried out on a group of 30 university students aged between 20 and 24 and the results alarmingly found that just one 250ml of a sugar free can of Red Bull raised the risk of blood clots forming by making the blood more “sticky”.

Dr. Scott Willoughby, of the Cardiovascular Research Centre at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Adelaide University said: "After one can it seemed to turn the young individual into one with more of the type of profile you would expect to see with someone with cardiovascular disease. People who already have existing cardiovascular disease may want to talk to their physician before they drink Red Bull in future."

Students are also being warned about the dangers of mixing energy drinks with vodka.  Around 50 per cent of Kingston students drink vodka Red Bull on a night on but scientists warn that mixing a depressant (vodka) with a stimulant (Red Bull) can be dangerous.

In a study carried out by Dr Mary Claire O’ Brien at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre in North Carolina, researchers’ questioned 4, 271 students and found that people who drank vodka Red Bull were more likely to have a false self awareness of intoxication,  injure themselves on a night out and be taken advantage of sexually.

Dr Mary Claire O’ Brien said: “Students whose motor skills, visual reaction times and judgements are impaired by alcohol may not perceive that they are intoxicated as readily when they are also ingesting a stimulant.”

Banned in countries such as France, Norway and Denmark, energy drinks have been linked to the cause of a few deaths.  An investigation was ordered after the death of Ross Cooney, 18, from Limerick, who drank four cans of Red Ball during a basket ball match and later collapsed.

Last year Chole Leach, 21, suddenly collapsed on the floor in the Sugarmill club in Hull after she consumed four cans of energy drink and several VKs. An inquest showed that her death was caused by caffeine triggering a rare heart condition. 

 In July 2001 a 33 year old Australian man died of a heart- attack after drinking a pitcher of Red Bull and vodka.

Red Bull has denied that their drink is dangerous. In a statement a spokesmen said that Red Bull had been proven safe by “numerous scientific studies”.