Energy drinks : a young consumer 2 has adverse effects

katemlk023/epictura

Published the 18.01.2018 at 07: 45
Update the 18.01.2018 at 10: 45 am

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drinks énergisantestroubles of the rythmeadolescents

In a national survey of young Canadians, more than half of those who have already consumed an energy drink report having experienced at least one adverse effect on their health, including an increased heart rate (tachycardia), nausea and, in rare cases, seizures.

The coffee so far mostly studied

At the present time, the canadian legislation aims to ban the marketing of energy drinks to children and it is not recommended that these drinks are used by people who are doing sports activities.
“Most of the studies on the risks of energy drinks conducted to date have focused on the coffee to evaluate the effects on health, but it is clear that these products pose a greater health risk,” said David Hammond, a professor at the University of Waterloo.

Many disorders

In the framework of the study, the researchers surveyed 2 055 young Canadians aged 12 to 24 years. Among those who reported consuming energy drinks at a time of their life, to 55.4% said they have experienced an adverse effect on their health.
Among those who have reported adverse health effects, 24.7 per cent report having had a rapid heart rate, 24.1% had experienced difficulty sleeping and 18.3% said they had experienced headaches.
Overall, 5.1% report nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, 5% had consulted a doctor, a 3.6% said they experienced chest pain, and 0.2% reported having had an epileptic seizure.

Several types of energy drinks

Energy drinks ‘ covers drinks which contain caffeine, amino acids (taurine), a lot of sugar (up to 10 teaspoons of sugar for a can of 250 ml), vitamins and sometimes herbal extracts (ginseng, guarana, maté). Energy drinks are they supposed to respond to the needs of athletes and contain rather of sugars, vitamins and mineral salts.
The fact of the presence of sugar in excess in energy drinks, which can go up to 30% of the calorie intake of children who are at risk of obesity and diabetes. Caffeine dehydrates the body and is therefore not recommended in cases of physical effort. As for the taurine, animal studies show the adverse consequences of its abuse on the developing brain.Young people exposed to high levels of taurine may have problems with learning and memory.

Problems seen in France

According to the website of the national Agency of sanitary safety of food, environment and labour (Anses), the problem is the same in France. The Agency reports more than 200 cases of adverse effects reported with the consumption of energy drinks : sensations of tightness or chest pain, tachycardia, hypertension, rhythm disturbances, up to the cardiac arrest, irritability, nervousness, anxiety, panic attacks, epilepsy etc.
All this without including the mixing of alcohol and energy drink that alters more the risk perception of the consumer. This results in an increase in the risk of injury when drinking alcohol mixed with an energy drink, compared to alcohol consumption alone. Energy drinks, because of the stimulating effect of the caffeine masks the state of fatigue, which can lead to under-estimate his level of drinking to stay outside longer, to consume more alcohol and engage in risk behaviours

A limitation is indispensable in children

“The number of health effects observed in our study suggests that more should be done to limit the consumption among children and young people,” said Hammond.
“The negative effects of energy drinks on health may be secondary to various ingredients, other than coffee or the way in which it is consumed (alcohol, physical activity), but the results suggest the need to increase the study of the effects of these products on health.”

An important resolution when we know that studies have shown that energy drinks could promote the development of a serious heart rhythm disorder in people with a genetic disease : the long QT syndrome.