Energy Drinks (EDs) are frequently consumed by adolescents and young adults for their psychoactive, stimulant, and performance-enhancing properties. The use and abuse of EDs are continuously increasing worldwide and EDs are often mixed with spirits and fruit juice to obtain different cocktails. This mixed consumption (AMED) may be promoted by the idea that caffeine contained at high doses in the EDs may reduce the sedative and locomotor impairing effects of heavy alcohol intake. Unfortunately, this idea is not supported by research findings. In fact, clinical studies report that AMED augments the priming effect of a low dose of alcohol, increasing the desire for more alcohol, reducing its sedative effect, but failing to modify alcohol’s-induced objective alteration of motor coordination. These consequences make AMED consumers prone to engaging in risky behaviors, such as driving while drunk.
The present Research Topic aims at providing a better understanding of the relationship between alcoholic and energy drinks consumption, by bridging the knowledge on the still underexplored experimental evidence on this topic with the clinical perspective. Moreover, major emphasis will also be placed on clarifying the role that caffeine, as well as other biologically active EDs’ ingredients, may have on alcohol’s reward mechanisms, and overall on the neurobiological basis of its abnormal consumption. We foresee that the contributions from both the preclinical and the clinical side of this Research Topic will provide a comprehensive view of an issue of increasingly relevant impact, and will also inform regulatory agencies about the consequences of AMED on teenagers’ and young adults’ health.
The collection of contributions to this research topic may consist of Original Research reporting new studies but also of Case Reports, Brief Research Reports, Reviews and Mini Reviews that will present, analyze, and discuss the different aspects of the interaction between alcoholic and EDs, and not just simply between caffeine and alcohol.
Energy Drinks (EDs) are frequently consumed by adolescents and young adults for their psychoactive, stimulant, and performance-enhancing properties. The use and abuse of EDs are continuously increasing worldwide and EDs are often mixed with spirits and fruit juice to obtain different cocktails. This mixed consumption (AMED) may be promoted by the idea that caffeine contained at high doses in the EDs may reduce the sedative and locomotor impairing effects of heavy alcohol intake. Unfortunately, this idea is not supported by research findings. In fact, clinical studies report that AMED augments the priming effect of a low dose of alcohol, increasing the desire for more alcohol, reducing its sedative effect, but failing to modify alcohol’s-induced objective alteration of motor coordination. These consequences make AMED consumers prone to engaging in risky behaviors, such as driving while drunk.
The present Research Topic aims at providing a better understanding of the relationship between alcoholic and energy drinks consumption, by bridging the knowledge on the still underexplored experimental evidence on this topic with the clinical perspective. Moreover, major emphasis will also be placed on clarifying the role that caffeine, as well as other biologically active EDs’ ingredients, may have on alcohol’s reward mechanisms, and overall on the neurobiological basis of its abnormal consumption. We foresee that the contributions from both the preclinical and the clinical side of this Research Topic will provide a comprehensive view of an issue of increasingly relevant impact, and will also inform regulatory agencies about the consequences of AMED on teenagers’ and young adults’ health.
The collection of contributions to this research topic may consist of Original Research reporting new studies but also of Case Reports, Brief Research Reports, Reviews and Mini Reviews that will present, analyze, and discuss the different aspects of the interaction between alcoholic and EDs, and not just simply between caffeine and alcohol.
