Chest pain from supplement use in an active duty soldier: A case report

Abstract

In the active duty population, over-the-counter performance enhancing supplements are readily available and consumed, primarily in an unsupervised manner. While some of the active ingredients, such as caffeine and creatine, have been well studied, other sympathomimetic and vasoactive components in these products have minimal data regarding their safety profile. Further potentiating the associated risks of consumption, the quantities and purities of the reported ingredients are often unverified and can vary from serving to serving. We present a case of the deleterious side effect profiles of these lesser studied components in overconsumption in an active duty soldier. Although improvements are being made regarding product safety, the paucity of ingredient regulation and quality assurance can result in warfighter morbidity and mortality, especially when these supplements are abused or combined with other products.