Mixing Copious Amounts Energy Drinks With Alcohol Gives Teens The Affects of Cocaine.
By: Cristo Rogers |Like cocaine: how mixing energy drinks and alcohol can give teens chronic brain health issues
Troubled teens are ingesting copious amounts of energy drinks in conjunction with alcohol in order to simulate the effects of cocaine. A new study shows that the combination of large quantities of caffeine and alcohol affects the brain like cocaine as well.
Researchers at Purdue University recently did a study that included adolescent mice. In the study, the researchers gave the mice caffeinated alcohol. The results were startling as the mice showed neurochemical similarities to mice given cocaine.
Richard van Rijn, an assistant professor of medical chemistry at Purdue said, “It seems the two substances together push them over a limit that causes changes in their behavior and changes the neurochemistry in their brains.” He then goes on to say; We’re clearly seeing effects of the combined drinks that we would not see if drinking one or the other.”
Mice, when repeatedly exposed to caffeinated alcohol became actively addicted
The mice in the study were said to have developed increased levels of the protein FosB, a sort of long-term marker of sustained changes in neurochemistry, often appearing in addicts who abuse cocaine or morphine. “That’s one reason why it’s so difficult for drug users to quit, because of these lasting changes in the brain,” van Rijn says.
So what does that mean for adolescents?
Parents of teenage boys and girls should be alarmed by the results of Purdue's study of mice. Their studies indicate that teens who abuse energy drinks and alcohol - both commonly drunk in large quantities at teenage parties - are of high risk of damaging their brain's reward system, potentially putting them at risk of developing the neurochemistry of a life-long addict.
In conclusion: Explaining the dangers of alcohol is already a paramount subject for any parent to discuss with their child. However, like the tremendous results from Purdue's research suggests, parents need to be thorough as possible when explaining the specificities of why alcohol is dangerous.
For additional information regarding Purdue University's findings, please visit the link below:
Jägerbombs or vodka Red Bull are commonly enjoyed cocktails, but a new study warns that adolescents who drink such highly caffeinated alcoholic beverages trigger changes in their brains similar to those from taking cocaine. The consequences, according to study in mice from Purdue University published in the journal PLOS ONE, last into adulthood and include an altered ability to deal with rewarding substance