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Subscribe to RSSA 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.
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If you drink this sh*t you are a moron and you deserve whatever happens to you. Period.
But the commercials said I deserve, must have, want, NEED it! How can I look cool if I don't have a can of the stuff in my hand? How can I be accepted without it? What if someone comes out ahead of me because they were cranked like a crackhead, & I'm not?
Brainwashing is a powerful tool.
It's exactly like all of you coffee drinkers. Media says it's bad and you believe it. Get real people. This whole thing is just something else to attack because of some idiot drinking way too much.
But I need that cool "Monster" decal on my truck window!!
It's also not JUST the caffeine... it's also the sugar content per serving along WITH the caffeine per serving. It's crazy~!
No cane sugar isn't as bad as the non-digestible corn syrup..... Takes three times the corn then cane sugar....
See which one has the worst affect on someone with add or adhd over a month or two.pretty much will find that in that case the shakes like a diabetic go away for the most part with cane sugar and not with the corn syrup.
My daughter sixteen years old over dosed on energy drinks
and the energy pills. I didn’t even know she bought them. She was so out of it.
She was sick and threw up. All it took for her over dose was two drinks and two
energy pills.
I'm sorry for your loss.
She lived but it took two days before she could sleep. She vowed never to drink them again. Then the next week the father of my daughter's best friend bought my daughter another energy drink. I was mad. This family is the ones that called me to tell me my daughter over dosed on energy drinks.Why would they buy her an energy drink the next week?
Four loco ftw.
Don't sell them to kids. I see kids buy them all the time. There is no reason why any child would need "more energy" anyway. It's a peer pressure fad I am sure, to fit in and be "cool". The adults that abuse them...need to see the wizard because they are without brains.
READ MY LIPS IT'S DEADLY STUFF IN A CAN..................BAN THE DRINK ALL TOGETHER.
IT Clearly Causes Heart AttackS!!!!!!!!!!
Only if abused and family doctors are cluess. They still have corn syurp in everything and there have been more problems comming from that. Supposedly to save the ameriacan farmer... Takes three times the amount of corn syurp and is less digestable than sugar. Remember corn goes in and comes out the same way due to the wax in it. The corn syurp causes weight problems, diebetic and other things...
Yep and you know this because the media says it does. It does no more harm than coffee.
People do choose some things they put in their bodies... though others are changes by companies and government. Don't forget it was the government that was saying they where saving the american farmer when they put corn syurp in everything. It takes three times the amount of corn syrup to equal the amount of cane sugar. At least the sugar is digestable, corn has the wax naturally in it. Makes it all the less digestable no matter how well you chew the corn.Hummm corn comes out the same way in most cases it went in.
As for the girl who died, sad to hear about the loss. Have to ask though, who bought her the monster or gave her the money to get it?
The comment about the drinks only having the caffine of one cup of coffe is right.
Although if this girl had a heart problem or one with caffine, why is it the family doctor never noticed this before? That is something that in all accounts should have been picked up from day to day intake of soda and things she drinks otherwise. Short temper from normal, overly hyper or tired soon after. That up and down can come from any soda on the market now. Mainly it's from the corn syurp not the caffine. Not seperate at the very least.
STOP BUYING GARBAGE AND RISKING YOUR LIVES IN ER.
STOP BUYING AND MAKING THESE PEOPLE RICH!!!! The manufacture ( Pespi,Coke, Monster, red bull) does not care about your health!
"Energy" drinks my (donkey). They're "Caffeine Delivery Systems". Did you know the physiological effects of caffeine are identical to cocaine, just not as intense?
PCP (phenocyclodine), like cocaine, is illegal. It's effects are more intense, but nearly identical to alcohol. However, alcohol is restricted to those 21 & over. Maybe it's time, past time, to do the same with caffeine.
Do we really want our kids to grow up thinking sugar & caffeine are foods?
I know these energy drinks are bad. My 19 year old son had a seizure after drinking an energy drink. He was taken to the ER and they said the seizure was probably due to the energy drink because he is an otherwise healthy person. He does not drink them anymore.
It's a simple thing called "moderation".
But what if someone "wins" over me because he, she, or it was less moderate? I'll be left a loser! Loser! What then?
Brainwashing is a powerful tool.
I have a friend who's quite overweight and drinks these by the gallon.. I definitely fear for her health. I drink lemonade & Tea monster probably once a month. Redbull is a no-no for me.. Had a can four years ago and, well, let's just say I was shaking for quite some time..
Blind greed and lack of morallity Excercise and get the blood flowing no need for this garbage. And getting the proper amount of sleep.
We need to ban energy drinks!!!!
... because media says so and I beleive it. There does that about sum up what you feel.
Just a sign of age here I guess, but I recall my parents not permitting me to drink coffee because it would "...result in you functioning in un-natural overdrive...". Today it seems that young folks have forgetten how to function socially without some form of un-natural overdrive. issues of self worth or peer pressure? Maybe some combination.
They believe they have to be cranked up like crack addicts, or someone who is will come out ahead. Noone wants to be a "loser", right?
Brainwashing is a powerful tool.
The problem is mind control. You're told over & over how "good" sugar, salt, & fat are until you believe. You know they taste, respectively, sweet, salty, & greasy, and that's no more "good" than orange is a "good" color, or oboe is a "good" sound. You also know what these things do to your appearance isn't "good", & what they do to your health is far from "good". Yet still you believe. When it's time for a snack you will actually say "I believe I'll have ________", then fill in the blank with sugar, salt, fat, or some combination thereof.
When you believe something you know isn't so you've been brainwashed.
Oops! Did it again. I used "mind control" & "brainwashed". That's not very PC of me. I meant, of course, commercials & advertising.
Did you know ADHD doesn't exist outside the U.S.? If you describe the symptoms to a doctor overseas (not educated in America), the immediate diagnosis is sleep deprivation.
Now how could our children be sleep deprived?
Misician, ADHA is all over the world. Here is a web site with the information.
http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/1443/15863/adhd-world/2
No rational person thinks there's a disease mechanism that makes people withdrawn, unable to focus, & makes them hyperactive at the same time. And there isn't one. It's sleep deprivation, which is why the sufferers need amphetamine derivatives to keep them awake. Then, of course, they need sleep aids so they can get to sleep.
The term "pill pusher" isn't funny anymore.
I would never put my children on ADHD drugs. I use to be
hyper as a child. My son is hyper just like me. I homeschooled my children, but
if I didn’t I knew the school would have put my son on ADHD drugs. We taught
our son self-control. He is now an US
marine.
Musician666...I agree to a point; however, the human body is "wired" to like sweet tastes, probably due to the need for energy in our ancestors.
The discovery and import/export of sugar cane was a huge factor in early world exploration and trade.
I think you should be 25 yr and show ID to purschase these ni child shall be able to by theses energy drinks
Why 25? A 25 year old is not a child; an 18 year old is not a child for that matter. We can send an 18 year old off to fight a war, they should be able to put whatever they want in their body (aside from the fact that soldiers are tested for illegal substances).
If I recall correctly, it was a masssive combination of coffee and Red Bull or other similar caffeine related drinks over a long period of time which eventually led to the untimely demise of Captain Phil
Harris on the Cornelia Marie. Let the buyer be forwarned and forarmed that this type of drink can be
extremely dangerous and possibly lead to your untimely demise!!!
And cannabis is still illegal after 70 years of prohibition. Crazy.
It is the low PH of the drinks, not the caffeine. They are so acidic that it is basically like drinking too much booze. Too much work for the liver causing the whole body to be too acidic. Poison!
I'm sure they can't be the healthiest drinks on the market but how many of these patients are being truthful on what they have taken. How many people did a little too much cocaine or speed and are feeling the abuse and seek help under the guise of an energy drink to avoid any potential issue with the law.
I know it seems like a stretch but people have used pain medicine to cover for their heroin. I guess a lot more people are drinking the energy drinks now then in 2007. More companies out there making it and a lot more advertizing so who knows. I am just reaching. I enjoy a small Red Bull here and there but I have never felt anything out of the ordinary from it.
Hey I thought this was a free country so people can do what they want. If comeone wants to drink 10 of these and end up in the ER thats their problem not the company that makes them.
Large amounts of caffeine and large amounts of sugar, is a bad combination, but like coffee it can boost performance, but should be used in moderation.
It's still brainwashing. You're told you want this crap until you believe it. Intelligence is no defense. Quite the opposite. Just play on their intellectual vanity, & the intelligent will take the hook like every angler's dream fish.
For example: The most brainwashed segment of American society is the medical profession. Doctors actually believe some pharmaceutical is going to fix everything. It's just like 200 years ago when they believed bleeding patients to death would get them right with God (disease was God's punishment for your sins).
Don't worry. Yes, our descendents will sneer at us for our silly beliefs, but they'll have some medical nonsense they'll believe just as ardently. We're good at believing. Not so good at facing facts.