Healthline: Even for Moderate Drinkers, Going on a Binge Can Raise Health Risks

“Even if you’re a moderate drinker, if you binge drink, you could be putting yourself at greater risk for alcohol-related health issues, say researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. Moderate drinking was defined in their study as having, on average, no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two for men. Binge drinking was defined as having four or more drinks on the same occasion for women, or five or more drinks on the same occasion for men. In their study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, it was found that these individuals were five time as likely to develop a problem with alcohol misuse. They were also two times more likely to have problems with alcohol consumption nine years later. This was compared to people who drank the same amount of alcohol overall, but didn’t binge drink.

In order to study how patterns of alcohol consumption might affect people, the UT Austin researchers examined data from 1,229 drinkers who were 30 years of age and over.

The people were surveyed in two waves of the Midlife Development in the United States study, which gave the investigators the ability to follow the participants over a period of nine years.

Lead author Dr. Charles Holahan, who is a psychology professor at UT Austin, said his team wanted to study this issue because, when it comes to moderate drinking, the pattern of drinking is generally overlooked.

“This leaves many drinkers mistakenly assuming that a moderate average level of consumption is safe, regardless of drinking pattern,” he explained. What they discovered, however, was surprising to them. “We found in a national sample of U.S. adults that moderate average level drinkers accounted for the majority of cases of binge drinking and the majority of cases of alcohol problems,” Holahan said. “Binge drinking was linked to health or social problems from drinking among these moderate drinkers,” he added.

Dr. Patricia E. Molina, Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence at LSU Health New Orleans and a member of the American Physiological Society, explained that binge drinking can create several harmful affects to health.

“Binge drinking is linked to alcohol-associated tissue injury and pathophysiology, leading to significant adverse effects on multiple organ systems,” said Molina.

“At-risk alcohol use (of which binge drinking is one form) is linked to more than 60 acute and chronic diseases, with men having a higher incidence of alcohol-related health problems than women,” Molina added.

Dr. Kevin Montes, Assistant Professor of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, further noted that binge drinking increases the risk for blackouts, overdoses, unsafe sex, accidental deaths, and injuries.

According to material provided by Montes, binge drinking also affects tissues throughout the entire body. Even a single episode of binge drinking can lead to pancreatic inflammation in people who already have pancreatic damage. Over time, it can contribute to liver and other chronic diseases, as well as increasing the risk for certain types of cancer.

Full article is here!

How often do you enjoy drinking? What are some precautions you can take to practice healthy drinking habits?

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