High caffeine levels found in energy drinks

Energy drinks that promise to boost performance and rev up metabolism can contain three to four times as much caffeine as a typical soda, a new study shows.

Well, yes, and that's why people buy these drinks.

So it's not surprising that energy drinks would contain large amounts of caffeine, said study co-author Dr. Bruce A. Goldberger of the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville.

Right on, Dr. Goldberger! It's not surprising! (why are you publishing this study then?)

But the actual caffeine dose might surprise some consumers, he told Reuters Health.

Say, Doc, do you ever read the labels on these drinks? They say: "Cautions: Contains caffeine. Not recommended for children, pregnant or breast-feeding women, caffeine sensitive persons or to be mixed with alcohol. Do not consume more than 500 ml per day."

And lastly Dr. Goldberger notes:

"We believe that these products should be labeled," Goldberger said, noting that in Europe, drinks with more than 150 milligrams (mg) of caffeine per liter must be marked as "high-caffeine."

Not only do I agree with him, but I bet the energy drink companies would too: "Buy this product! Look how much caffeine it has!" So, basically everone's in agreement and this whole study is pointless.

Smokers often die prematurely: study

In the words of our Washington State Motto: "SayWA?!"

Cigarette smoking strongly increases the risk of dying in middle age for both men and women. "Our study shows that smoking strongly reduces the chances of surviving from 40 to 70 years of age," write Dr. Stein Emil Volsett [sic - his name is actually Vollset!] of the University of Bergen and colleagues. There is a clear dose-response relationship between smoking and mortality -- survival decreases with increasing number of cigarettes smoked per day, they note.

The study is published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

If this is true, the government should take some sort of action! This is outrageous! I demand they consider putting warning labels on cigarettes! Another revolutionary idea brought to you by News that Vexes.

Guardian urges against return of caged kids

A court-appointed guardian for 11 children taken from the adoptive parents who kept some of them in cages testified yesterday that she has believed for months the youngsters shouldn't be returned to the couple.

Well hey, with 11 kids, it's hard to keep track of them all! Cages (with name labels) surely help. The parents said

the enclosures, rigged with alarms, were needed to protect the children from one another and to stop them from roaming the house at night ...

Well, cages will help that.

And on a happier note, since being removed from the cages, "Their whole demeanor has changed," Ms. Kern said. "They're energetic. They're brighter. They're crisper." (I'm glad she didn't say 'crispier'! I'm anti-cannibalism).