HHS HealthBeat (June 9, 2011)

Fast and wrong

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Energy drinks can get you keyed up. With alcohol, you can act without thinking. And a lot of people mix the two, so researcher Cecile Marczinski of Northern Kentucky University measured what happens.

In lab experiments, Marczinksi looked at decision-making and reaction times in college students who had an energy drink with alcohol, just alcohol, just an energy drink, or a drink with neither. Those who had the cocktail were more likely to act fast but get things wrong.

Marczinski warns:

``Your judgment is impaired, and you make more errors especially those impulsive errors, such as driving while impaired or drinking longer than you had intended.’’ (9 seconds)

The study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: June 8, 2011