Energy drinks mixed with alcohol: Are there any risks?

There have now been a number of publications, including laboratory studies and surveys, on alcohol mixed with energy drinks. Some authors have highlighted problems associated with consumption of this beverage combination, including reduced perception of alcohol intoxication and greater alcohol consumption with more negative consequences as a result. For example, the recent article by Marczinski and Fillmore entitled “Energy drinks mixed with alcohol: what are the risks?” suggests that “consuming alcohol mixed with energy drinks is riskier than consuming alcohol alone and constitutes a public health concern.”1 While some publications conclude that consumption of energy drinks mixed with alcohol is problematic, others do not support these claims and point out the methodological shortcomings of many studies in this area

Alcohol Hangover and Multitasking: Effects on Mood, Cognitive Performance, Stress Reactivity, and Perceived Effort

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of hangover on mood, multitasking ability, and psychological stress reactivity to cognitive demand. Using a crossover design and semi-naturalistic methodology, 25 participants attended the laboratory in the morning following a night of (i) alcohol abstinence and (ii) alcohol self-administration during a typical night out (with order counterbalanced across participants). They completed a four-module multitasking framework (MTF, a widely used laboratory stressor) and a battery of questionnaires assessing mood, hangover symptom severity, and previous night’s sleep. The effects of the MTF on mood and perceived workload were also assessed. Participants in the hangover condition reported significantly lower alertness and contentment coupled with a higher mental fatigue and anxiety. Multitasking ability was also significantly impaired in the hangover condition. Completion of the cognitive stressor increased reported levels of mental demand, effort, and frustration, and decreased perceived level of performance. MTF completion did not differentially affect mood. Lastly, participants rated their sleep as significantly worse during the night prior to the hangover compared with the control condition. These findings confirm the negative cognitive and mood effects of hangover on mood. They also demonstrate that hangover is associated with greater perceived effort during task performance

On-site residence time in a driven diffusive system: violation and recovery of mean-field

We investigate simple one-dimensional driven diffusive systems with open boundaries. We are interested in the average on-site residence time defined as the time a particle spends on a given site before moving on to the next site. Using mean-field theory, we obtain an analytical expression for the on-site residence times. By comparing the analytic predictions with numerics, we demonstrate that the mean-field significantly underestimates the residence time due to the neglect of time correlations in the local density of particles. The temporal correlations are particularly long-lived near the average shock position, where the density changes abruptly from low to high. By using Domain wall theory (DWT), we obtain highly accurate estimates of the residence time for different boundary conditions. We apply our analytical approach to residence times in a totally asymmetric exclusion process (TASEP), TASEP coupled to Langmuir kinetics (TASEP + LK), and TASEP coupled to mutually interactive LK (TASEP + MILK). The high accuracy of our predictions is verified by comparing these with detailed Monte Carlo simulations

Energy drinks mixed with alcohol: misconceptions, myths, and facts

Joris C Verster1, Christoph Aufricht2, Chris Alford31Utrecht University, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht, The Netherlands; 2Medical University of Vienna, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Währinger Gürtel, Wien, Austria; 3University of the West of England, Psychology Department, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, UKBackground: Whilst energy drinks improve performance and feelings of alertness, recent articles suggest that energy drink consumption combined with alcohol may reduce perception of alcohol intoxication, or lead to increased alcohol or drug use. This review discusses the available scientific evidence on the effects of mixing energy drinks with alcohol.Methods: A literature search was performed using the keywords “energy drink and Red Bull®” and consulting Medline/Pubmed, PsycINFO, and Embase.Results: There is little evidence that energy drinks antagonize the behavioral effects of alcohol, and there is no consistent evidence that energy drinks alter the perceived level of intoxication of people who mix energy drinks with alcohol. No clinically relevant cardiovascular or other adverse effects have been reported for healthy subjects combining energy drinks with alcohol, although there are no long-term investigations currently available. Finally, whilst several surveys have shown associations, there is no direct evidence that coadministration of energy drinks increases alcohol consumption, or initiates drug and alcohol dependence or abuse.Conclusion: Although some reports suggest that energy drinks lead to reduced awareness of intoxication and increased alcohol consumption, a review of the available literature shows that these views are not supported by direct or reliable scientific evidence. A personality with higher levels of risk-taking behavior may be the primary reason for increased alcohol and drug abuse per se. The coconsumption of energy drinks being one of the many expressions of that type of lifestyle and personality.Keywords: energy drink and Red Bull®, Red Bull®, alcohol, intoxication, caffeine, maskin

Model for the Scaling of Stresses and Fluctuations in Flows near Jamming

We probe flows of soft, viscous spheres near the jamming point, which acts as a critical point for static soft spheres. Starting from energy considerations, we find nontrivial scaling of velocity fluctuations with strain rate. Combining this scaling with insights from jamming, we arrive at an analytical model that predicts four distinct regimes of flow, each characterized by rational-valued scaling exponents. Both the number of regimes and values of the exponents depart from prior results. We validate predictions of the model with simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures (revised text and one new figure). To appear in Phys. Rev. Let