Energy drinks are sending lots of people to emergency rooms

[brynne]

Energy drinks are sending lots of people to emergency rooms

 

 

By Garance Burke, The Associated Press

 

A new federal government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drinks have surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.

From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving the neon-labeled beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of those cases involved teens or young adults, according to a survey of the nation's hospitals released late last week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The report doesn't specify which symptoms brought people to the emergency room but calls energy drink consumption a "rising public health problem" that can cause insomnia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat and seizures that are severe enough to require emergency care.

 

Several emergency physicians said they had seen a clear uptick in the number of patients suffering from irregular heartbeats, anxiety and heart attacks who said they had recently downed an energy drink.

More than half of the patients considered in the survey who wound up in the emergency room told doctors they had downed only energy drinks. In 2011, about 42 percent of the cases involved energy drinks in combination with alcohol or drugs, such as the stimulants Adderall or Ritalin.

"A lot of people don't realize the strength of these things. I had someone come in recently who had drunk three energy drinks in an hour, which is the equivalent of 15 cups of coffee," said Howard Mell, an emergency physician in the suburbs of Cleveland, who serves as a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "Essentially he gave himself a stress test and thankfully he passed. But if he had a weak heart or suffered from coronary disease and didn't know it, this could have precipitated very bad things."

Concerns over energy drinks have intensified following reports last fall of 18 deaths possibly tied to the drinks - including a 14-year-old Maryland girl who died after drinking two large cans of Monster Energy drinks. Monster does not believe its products were responsible for the death.

Two senators are calling for the Food and Drug Administration to investigate safety concerns about energy drinks and their ingredients.

The energy drink industry says its drinks are safe and there is no evidence linking its products to the adverse reactions.

Late last year, the FDA asked the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to update the figures its substance abuse research arm compiles about emergency room visits tied to energy drinks.

The SAMHSA survey was based on responses from about 230 hospitals each year, a representative sample of about 5 percent of emergency departments nationwide. The agency uses those responses to estimate the number of energy drink-related emergency department visits nationwide.

The more than 20,000 cases estimated for 2011 represent a small portion of the annual 136 million emergency room visits tracked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FDA said it was considering the findings and pressing for more details as it undertakes a broad review of the safety of energy drinks and related ingredients this spring.

"We will examine this additional information ... as a part of our ongoing investigation into potential safety issues surrounding the use of energy-drink products," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said in a statement.

Beverage manufacturers fired back at the survey, saying the statistics were misleading and taken out of context.

"This report does not share information about the overall health of those who may have consumed energy drinks, or what symptoms brought them to the ER in the first place," the American Beverage Association said in a statement. "There is no basis by which to understand the overall caffeine intake of any of these individuals - from all sources."

Energy drinks remain a small part of the carbonated soft drinks market, representing only 3.3 percent of sales volume, according to the industry tracker Beverage Digest. Even as soda consumption has flagged in recent years, energy drinks sales are growing rapidly.

In 2011, sales volume for energy drinks rose by almost 17 percent, with the top three companies - Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar - each logging double-digit gains, Beverage Digest found. The drinks are often marketed at sporting events that are popular among younger people such as surfing and skateboarding.

From 2007 to 2011, the most recent year for which data was available, people from 18 to 25 were the most common age group seeking emergency treatment for energy drink-related reactions, the report found.

[JoeDirt]

Everything is ok in moderation. What I find appalling is the amount of parents buying these crap drinks for their young kids. You can't cure stupid.

[Jefke]

I stopped drinking them when a friend of me died. Before that I had days I survived on large cans of monster (festivals, think I had 4 liters of monster a day during one day)

 

He didn't drink a lot of them in a short period of time, but it was pure bad luck.

The reason he drank them became fatal, we were on a party but he was taking antibiotics so decided not to drink alcohol that night.

 

Something react with the antibiotics and he went into a coma.

[slenderman]

Energy drinks are just filled with sugar and caffeine,imo you would have to be in a rush or an idiot to buy one.

 

Not only can you make your own version of energy drinks at home (coffee, and smoothies/juice) but it's cheaper and you know what you put in it.

[Pickle_Pete]

I researched this myself a while ago. I did three days of 9 hour OT (On top of 9 hour shifts) at work, where I drank one monster between each shift to stay awake. The fourth day I came to work with really bad heart palputations and haven't drank one since. I have heart problems already, so I'm predisposed to them, but the massive amounts of caffine (Not to mention the comedown) made it much worse.

[Shinobi]

CRACK IN A CAN lol

[WeetBix KiD]

The new and most dangerous favourite alcoholic drinks here are the ones mixed with energy drinks. It's all they are drinking in all the clubs. I cannot imagine the effects caffeine and alcohol are having on these people's minds and bodies. One sends to into sleep mode and the other gives you a sugar high.... Not a good combination. I did have one energy drink once (when they were still pretty new) and didn't like the way it made me feel.

[RoFoR]

This shit drinks are making many troubles, mostly when they are mixed with alcohol... ffs someone has to make something serious with this drinks =/

[absoluto]

I sometimes replacement drinking coffee and coke, not which of the two alternatives is worse.

[Chameleon]

Everything is ok in moderation. What I find appalling is the amount of parents buying these crap drinks for their young kids. You can't cure stupid.

 

Agreed!

[pyrka]

everything is for the people but not in any quantity ... it is easy to overdo it and later the effects are just ...