Since they are “a bomb of caffeine, sugar and other components of which we still do not know what effects they will have in the long term in organisms in full development” to which «we have a problem of underdiagnosis in medical services because we do not ask if the child drank an energy drink when we are dealing with certain cases of arrhythmias and seizures.
Guillermo Burillo, spokesperson for the Toxicology group of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES), warns of the problem of drug consumption. stimulant products. “It is the trigger for processes that reach our services,” he says. “But it is true that We must be more alert because in triages little is asked about it. We do not have the perception that its consumption is risky. And yes it is.
Esther López-García, from the Endocrinology and Nutrition group of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE), agrees with his concern: «We have to study in depth the continued and long-term consumption of these substances». While these investigations arrive, she is in favor of “regulating their access”: “That they label themselves well: to warn of the risks, of who can and cannot ingest them, to discourage their use by not facilitating their availability in educational or sports areas…
Energy drinks are once again in the spotlight because a large part of the autonomies, with Galicia at the head, is going to legislate that their sale be restricted to those over 18 years of age. As? In the Galician community they will do so through the Law on the Prevention of Addictions in Minors. The Xunta’s argument is based on the fact that its high content of stimulant substances, such as caffeine or taurine, among others, can put people at risk. danger to the cardiovascular and cerebral systems of adolescentsas well as causing sleep disturbances, nervousness, irritability and anxiety.
Perhaps with a practical example we can put what happens in context. A young man of 14-15 years old can put a can into his body on any given afternoon. Or what is the same three espresso coffees next to three teaspoons of white sugar. All seasoned with “other substances whose effects on health are unknown in the medium term and have been chosen for their supposed energizing properties“: taurine, D-glucurono-y-lactone, L-carnitine, vitamins and active ingredients such as ginseng, guarana, ginkgo,” explains López-García.