Article By: Angela Helms, EMT-I & Laurel Deveau, RN EMT-CC

(Lincoln, ME--) May 16-22, 2010 is National Emergency Medical Services Week, and the ambulance crew at Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln would like to remind people about the potential dangers of energy drinks.

The Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) at PVH have seen an increased number of young people with complaints associated with energy drink consumption including palpations (racing heart), increased blood pressure, seizure activity and dehydration. After asking the youngsters what they have been eating and drinking, the common answer is that they have had several energy drinks throughout the day. In many cases, the kids have admitted to not really eating food that day—just guzzling energy drinks. In some situations, the young people have admitted to drinking several of them in less than a couple of hours.

Energy drinks are manufactured under several different names. Red Bull, Monster, Rock Star and NOS are some of the most common in our communities. The so-called "energy drinks" come loaded with caffeine, sugar, vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients. There are also several different brands of energy shots that come in small bottles with the most common being 5 Hour Energy.

Energy drinks in moderation are not dangerous to your health. Moderation means one drink per day. There is, however, a great amount of research on the danger of excessive consumption of these drinks. The key ingredients in energy drinks are: caffeine, sugar, vitamins/herbs, guarana, and ginseng. Ginseng enhances the effects of the caffeine, and guarana is a stimulant that contains high levels of caffeine.

The ingredient causing most of the health problems is the high dose of caffeine. Energy drinks contain 160 to 260 mg of caffeine per 16 oz drink. If 400 mg or more of caffeine is consumed in one day, it can cause a number of adverse effects including nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, increased urination, abnormal heart rhythms and stomach upset. Because these drinks contain no electrolytes they can also lead to dehydration. Dehydration can lead to serious, immediate health issues. When our bodies become dehydrated by even 1%, performance is decreased by up to 10%.

One other factor to be noted is that these energy drinks are now being used as mixers for alcoholic beverages. The mixture of energy drinks and alcohol can mask the effects of intoxication. Increased intoxication leads to poor decision-making. Energy drinks also mask the taste of the alcohol which can lead to alcohol-related medical problems and overindulgence.

Elevations in blood pressure as the result of energy drinks were the point of small study presented at a recent American Heart Association event. “While the increases didn't reach dangerous levels in the healthy volunteers, the increases in blood pressure and heart rate could prove to be clinically significant in patients with heart disease or in those who consume energy drinks often,” said James Kalus, Pharm.D., senior manager of Patient Care Services at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, who led the study. "Individuals with high blood pressure and heart disease should be advised to avoid these drinks," he said. Information from this study appeared in a health alert from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Medical professionals simply do not yet know the long-term effects of consuming energy drinks. It is known, however, that large amounts of sugar and caffeine are harmful to our bodies and that the increase in the number of young people being treated at PVH after consuming these energy drinks is worrisome.

For people to utilize energy drinks during exercise or other strenuous activity increases the problem of dehydration and dangerous heart rhythms, and it does nothing to provide the body with any necessary nutrients or fluids. Emergency Medical Technicians at Penobscot Valley Hospital urge everyone who consumes these energy drinks to be aware of the serious, potential consequences.