There are much worse things a kid can get addicted to than energy drinks, or are there?
A new government study calls energy drinks “a rising public health problem.” And it’s no wonder! Twenty thousand people ended up at the emergency room last year with issues related to energy drinks.
ABC News reports the number of hospital visits linked to energy drinks has doubled in four years, from 10-thousand in 2007 to 20-thousand last years. Of those visits last year, 42-percent had mixed the energy drink with another stimulant such as Ritalin or alcohol. Fifty-eight percent had consumed the drink by itself.
A cardiologist with Georgetown University Hospital explains that when someone has an energy drink, their blood pressure rises, their heart rate goes up and then they start to feel the effects. Their heart races or skips, and they begin to experience symptoms of a panic attack. They get irregular heart symptoms and even worse.
The American Beverage Association disagrees with the hospital study, stating that the limited information makes it “impossible to understand the actual role – if any – of energy drinks in these hospital visits."
