Mixing alcohol and energy drinks 'may be a risky cocktail'

Conclusion This systematic review aimed to try to better establish whether drinking alcohol mixed with energy drinks is linked with risk of injury. Although the majority of studies generally supported a link between consumption and increased risk of injury, as the researchers acknowledge, the high variability in the methods of the individual studies and assessment of harms "makes it difficult to determine the extent of this risk". Nearly all the studies were online surveys that asked questions about alcohol and energy drink consumption, and self-reported injury. But the temporal relationship between the two, and whether the drink was actually the direct cause of the reported injury, is very difficult to be sure of, especially if the timeframe of reported injuries could extend to up to a lifetime, while drink consumption was relatively recent. For example, one of the studies was even questioning reports of injury or disease in the past year as a result of participants' work. It's also possible confounding lifestyle factors influenced any links seen. The individual studies varied considerably in the different factors they adjusted for, such as socioeconomic factors, drug use, and normal alcohol drinking behaviours.   The studies are also mostly representative of young student populations, and none were conducted in the UK. A link may be found if college or university students in the UK were surveyed, but we can't know this for sure. Overall, although this st...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Mental health Source Type: news