A lack of research and regulation associated with energy drinks, combined with reports of toxicity and high consumption, may result in potentially dangerous health consequences in children, adolescents, and young adults, according to a review of

According to the review, self-report surveys indicate that energy drinks are regularly consumed by 30% to 50% of children, adolescents, and young adults. The current trial questions the use of energy drinks in these young populations, as they provide no therapeutic benefit and are associated with risks for serious adverse health effects.

Advertising, Risky Behavior Compound Overdose Potential

The authors suggest that youth-aimed advertising of energy drinks and a tendency for risky behavior help compound the potential for caffeine overdose in young people. The authors recommend a maximum caffeine intake of 2.5 mg/kg per day for children and 100 mg/day for adolescents, although safe levels of consumption of other energy drink ingredients have not been established.

Although US poison centers have only recently begun tracking toxicity of energy drinks, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand have reported numerous adverse outcomes associated with energy drink consumption. These include liver damage, kidney failure, respiratory disorders, agitation, confusion, seizures, psychotic conditions, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, rhabdomyolysis, tachycardia, cardiac dysrhythmias, hypertension, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and death.

Dangers Go Beyond Excess Caffeine Consumption

According to independent commentator Dana M. Vieselmeyer, RD, LD, MPH, the special interest group chair of diabetes, wellness and weight management with the Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association, “this review highlights that consumption of energy drinks goes beyond the dangers of excess caffeine consumption, especially for children and adolescents, due to the supplemental additives these drinks contain and the unknown dangers of those in combination with caffeine and other medications. The fact that there is no known safe dose of any of those additives, or of caffeine, poses a risk.”

Read more: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/737311?src=mpnews&spon=34