Underage Binge Drinking Poses Risk of Brain Injury
Teenagers may not be using their brains – at least not when it comes to drinking. New research shows that adolescent binge drinking may have lasting effects aside from the obvious risk of poor academic performance and dangers of drunk driving. Underage binging and chronic consumption may even potentially cause brain damage.
The brains of adolescents are susceptible to damage related to alcohol abuse more than other age groups. This is because their brain cells are still developing, particularly for those under the age of 24. As this development ensues, effects of any level of drinking are more severe than for those at or over the age of 24.
Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California conducted a small animal study on seven juvenile, rhesus macaque monkeys to determine the effects of excessive drinking on different parts of the brain and nervous system, especially in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that controls learning, emotion and long-term memory.
The rhesus macaque monkey was used because it reacts to alcohol similarly to humans. Such studies of primates may help shed light on how underage drinking will affect the human brain overtime. The results of the study suggest that alcohol damage to the brain while young may be associated with adult alcoholism and problems later in life.
Studies in Australia are supporting these same findings, and effects of underage drinking are already rearing their ugly head. In fact, there has even been a spike in the number of women in their 20s who have been diagnosed with alcohol induced brain damage. Experts say that these people will never see their full potential and may even put an extra burden on the health system.
John Eyre, managing director of Alcohol Related Brain Injury Australian Services (ARBIAS) takes a look at this issue when people are losing their jobs because of these latent brain injuries and it’s going undiagnosed. The lethargy and lack of direction and motivation is being interpreted as a personal character flaw. When, in all actuality, it could be the aftereffects of years of alcohol abuse.
Experts agree that exposure to drinking at a young age increases the chances of excessive drinking later in life. In Australia where the legal drinking age is only 18, underage drinking is exacerbated. A study comparing drinking levels of Victorian teenagers to teens in Washington state found that drinking levels of 11-year-old boys in Victoria were triple that of boys in Washington.
Without education, American youth may be facing similar problems. Studies in Australia show that, because of ads they’ve seen, children perceive alcohol as, “cool.” Education initiatives must show the reality of teen binge drinking and potential risk for brain damage, which is definitely not cool.
Professor Moodie, who chaired the National Prevention Taskforce, has some suggestions to ensure balance as youth transition into responsible adults. He advises limiting alcohol promotion to adolescents, encouraging competitive pricing on lower alcohol content beverages, and focusing more intently on licensing regulation as keys for building safer drinking habits within our society.
