Dr. Susan Tapert studied 27 boys and 13 girls who binge drink, and then compared the results of tests of their spatial working memories with 31 non-drinking males and 24 non-drinking females. Binge-drinking is defined as five drinks in a row in one sitting for boys, and four drinks for girls, and people usually do it for the sole purpose of getting drunk. Working memory refers to using information that is stored in the mind, as opposed to information that is seen or heard. Working memory is critical to thinking and reasoning.

The binge drinkers in the study had less brain activation compared to the non-drinkers, and girls were especially affected.

"Long after a young person -middle school to college- enjoys acute recovery from a hang-over, this study shows that the risk to cognitive and brain functions endures," said Dr. Edith Sullivan of Stanford University.

Dr. Tapert surmised that girls were more likely to experience problems with alcohol because their brains develop earlier and they metabolize alcohol differently than boys do.

The majority of females need fewer drinks to achieve the same levels of intoxication as males, and they get drunk more quickly. They can become alcoholics more quickly than men do, even when they drink less heavily. Previous studies from Germany have found that women can lose the same amount of brain tissue as men who had been drinking less heavily and over a longer period of time. The main reason for these discrepancies is that a woman’s body has more fatty tissue and less water than the male’s, and hormonal differences could also affect how alcohol affects the female brain.

This study appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
 

The proposed connection between teen alcohol and casual Internet usage may help pinpoint which Internet behaviors have the greatest sway on teens’ decisions to drink alcohol. Researchers from New York’s Weill Cornell Medical College believe ads posted online that feature alcohol consumption and appear on sites where teens connect socially may have an impact on whether or not they drink alcohol. Similarly, teens who consume alcohol may be in front of the computer for recreation more often than their peers.

Researchers believe further explorations into the connections between recreational computing and alcohol use could help prevent pre-teens and children from developing behaviors that may make them more vulnerable to alcohol consumption. They point out the reality that children are beginning to use the Internet for recreation at earlier and earlier ages, and the need for parental computer monitoring is greater than ever.

Additionally, some teens have reported using alcohol while talking with friends on social media sites, and this pattern may be strengthened by the use of alcohol-related ads on major social networking venues. Teens who downloaded music from the Internet were also believed linked more often to consuming alcohol.

During the study, researchers asked more than 200 teens and preteens, aged 13 to 17, questions about their habits on the Internet and their alcohol consumption. Of the teens who had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days, a level of recreational Internet usage of 16 hours weekly was noted. For the teens who had avoided alcohol consumption in the past 30 days, their recreational Internet use was notably lower – around 12.7 hours weekly. Neither totals included time spent working on homework, and researchers did not note a connection between teen use of Internet video games or Internet shopping and consuming alcohol.

Parents may not realize that suggestive messages toward drinking alcohol are appearing on their teens’ recreational networking sites – nor that excessive use of social networking has been linked to higher rates of teen depression in some studies. One study suggests that most parents are not engaging in active Internet monitoring for their teens, but instead many parents may be focusing Internet blocks or filters toward their younger children.

While teen Internet use can be positive, providing an enhanced education, career information and social ties, further studies are called for to more closely understand the specific risks that key Internet behaviors – such as using social network sites – may pose for teens related to their likelihood of consuming alcohol.

The company recently introduced Blast by Colt 45, nicknamed an "alcopop" for its fruity taste and appearance. Seventeen attorney generals are working together to spread the message about the dangers of these alcoholic beverages – which often fall into the energy drink category – and attract teens and young adults to indulge in dangerous binge drinking.

Blast is marketed in a 23.5 ounce serving, in can form, but has the alcohol level of four beers. Binge drinking, or consuming four or more alcoholic beverages in an hour or less, is linked with risky and deadly behaviors, including driving while intoxicated.

Complicating the danger of drinks like Blast are the marketing strategies that many say make the beverages seem appealing and harmless to young teens and college students, according to an article posted on The Index. In the case of Blast, users are encouraged to drink the whole can in one sitting and may not realize how powerful the alcoholic effects can be. Marketed toward twenty-somethings, the can’s label and colors, say many experts, actually seem more tailored to catch the attention of underage teens.

Additional dangers associated with Blast have come from its use of popular rapper Snoop Dogg to promote the beverage, using his photo in ads and performing video interviews to post on social media sites.

More than 50 percent of fatalities linked to alcohol in the U.S. are connected to binge drinking, and officials hope to draw attention to the dangers of Blast and beverages like it that many experts believe are marketed to encourage binge drinking.

Susanne Tanski, MD, of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center of Pediatrics in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and colleagues presented two studies at the Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research 2011 Annual Meeting. In the first study, 58 percent of the 328 adolescents who participated had consumed alcohol in the previous month, and 62 percent had engaged in binge drinking.

The participants answered an online survey that recalled television ads, in which they viewed still images from 39 alcohol ads and 15 fast-food ads (with the brand name/logo obscured). A four-point scale was used to determine whether participants had seen the ad and whether they could identify the brand.

The participants also answered questions about the number of times they had consumed alcohol and the number of times they had engaged in binge drinking in the previous month, their abuse of alcohol in the previous year, and the glass size of a typical drink. About 54 percent admitted to having vomited from alcohol abuse, 23 percent said they had passed out from drinking, and 38 percent admitted to memory loss after drinking.

After accounting for age, sex, ownership of alcohol-branded merchandise, preference in alcohol brand, and food ad recognition in a regression analysis, increased alcohol ad recognition was associated with higher drinking intensity and increased alcohol abuse. Put simply, those who recognized more alcohol brands drank more often in larger amounts.
Dr. Tanski told Medscape Medical News that the alcohol industry spent $17 billion in ads in 2009 in the United States, with a goal of creating brand loyalty and associating drinking with having fun. However, very little is actually known about whether exposure to alcohol ads increases the likelihood of alcohol abuse in adolescents.

David Jernigan, PhD, associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, and director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, told Medscape Medical News that every day in the United States, about 4,750 people under age 16 start drinking. He added that it is important to study the role of alcohol marketing in teen drinking because alcohol is responsible for about 5,000 deaths per year among those under the age of 21.

For the second study, the researchers wanted to look at the influence of television advertising of alcohol products on the brand preference and frequency of alcohol consumption in adolescence. The researchers surveyed 2,699 adolescents between the ages of 16 and 20, representing every state in the country.

The survey found that about 64 percent of the teens had tried alcohol, and about 21 percent had engaged in binge drinking in the previous month. Among those who had consumed alcohol, 68.1 percent said they had a preferred brand. Of the list of 158 brands, 53.2 percent preferred distilled spirits (mostly girls, who preferred Smirnoff), and 42,.4 percent preferred beer (mostly males, who preferred Budweiser).

Binge drinking in those who had a favorite brand ranged from 28 to 74 percent (25.1 percent for females and 38.8 percent for males), compared with 11 percent in those with no brand preference.

Dr. Jernigan told Medscape Medical News that other long-term studies have found that the more adolescents are exposed to alcohol marketing, the more likely it is that they will start drinking, or will drink more. He added that because marketing is done by brand, this kind of study is important in understanding the role of marketing in teen drinking.

Dr. Jernigan noted that their study focused on youth exposure to alcohol marketing, and has repeatedly identified a small group of brands that are responsible for the majority of adolescent exposure to alcohol advertising. His group is fighting for stronger industry regulation to protect young people from alcohol marketing campaigns, and this study on youth brand preference could strengthen the case.

Source: Medscape Medical News, Brian Hoyle, Alcohol Ads Influence Adolescent Problem Drinking, May 3, 2011

According to this report in The Med Guru, it is often assumed that binge drinking is only a problem among men and teen boys. In fact, the perception for years has been that drinking is a man’s game and women can’t and don’t compete.

The reality, however, is very different. Beverage companies are designing drinks specifically for women, clubs are creating events to encourage women drinkers to attend, and women seeking equality and the opportunity to “prove themselves” are engaging in dangerous drinking habits.

Figures released by the NHS suggest that teenage girls are now engaging in binge drinking activities nearly as often as their male counterparts. While definitions vary between the NHS website and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in terms of the number of drinks that must be consumed to qualify as binge drinking, the reality is that females are engaging in more risky behavior.

The NHS figures suggest that more girls are now drinking hazardously, and this figure is expected to overtake boys in the next couple of years. In the survey, half of the girls claimed to have had a drink, just behind the 52 percent mark for boys.

Even more alarming is the trend emerging among females in terms of their binge drink of choice. Wine and beer are being replaced by hard liquor. This quick rush, combined with the cheap price of alcohol, is contributing to a growing crisis. Until perception changes to recognize the level of risk females undertake, this trend is likely to continue.

The LA Times posted a piece that highlights changes to the Monitoring the Future survey. This annual survey of drug, alcohol and tobacco use asks 8th, 10th and 12th graders about binge drinking. In recent years, the questions have changed to ask about rates of extreme binge drinking.

According to the University of Michigan’s Lloyd Johnston, who oversees the yearly survey, in the two weeks before completing the survey, 11 percent of high school seniors said they had consumed more than 10 alcoholic drinks in a single sitting. Some 6 percent of seniors said they had consumed more than 15.

In the years since the survey began, binge drinking has come down – especially since its peak in 1983. Johnston noted the same is not true for extreme binge drinking which seems to have not budged for the years it has been followed.

While high school students may find such a pastime appealing, it is also extremely risky. Alcohol poisoning can be one of the potentially fatal outcomes when alcohol saturation levels in the blood reach well beyond the .08 level.

As severe inebriation can compromise the gag reflex, a person who passes out from too much alcohol could choke on their own vomit, or aspirate it into the lungs, causing serious infection. A person who is gurgling or even snoring may be in respiratory crisis. Despite these potential effects, extreme binge drinking is a growing problem.

The study was conducted by the Schools Health Education Unit and also found that roughly one third of 15-year-olds have been drunk to the point of being sloshed. Surprisingly, only 8 percent of children included in the study said that they never touched alcohol.

NHS North East Essex primary care trust is working to try and curb this dangerous trend by appointing school liaison workers, as well as an alcohol nurse specialist to work together with police, probation service and fire service. The goal of this combined crew will be to fight the binge drinking trend in younger pupils.

Portsmouth has been dealing with an underage drinking problem that continues to intensify. To fight the problem, an alcohol school nurse has been introduced. The nurse, Suzanne Moore, will work with secondary school children to keep them away from alcohol.

Her goal is to educate children and help them to make changes instead of demanding that they have to do it. She wants to help the students understand why they would want to follow her advice.

Health officers focus on the goal of helping students to stand up to peer pressure. Kids also need to know how to stay away from the alcohol that is too accessible in the home. Explaining the link between getting blind drunk and teen pregnancy can have significant impact.
 

Griffin said that heavy drinking is often seen as a marker of a young person’s social identity, and as a source of self-esteem. Intoxication has become “normalized” and an almost mandatory part of many young people’s social lives. But getting drunk with friends makes it difficult for teens to see their alcohol consumption as problematic.

Griffin and her colleagues examined alcohol advertisements and interviewed young drinkers in a major city and two semi-rural towns, and presented their findings at a British Psychological Conference on September 9. They conclude that anti-drinking campaigns need to think about the social importance of drinking and the availability of inexpensive alcohol.

In 2007, Griffin led a study for the Economic and Social Research Council that suggested radically changing the national alcohol policy to take into consideration the social and identity implications that drinking have for young people.

Source: HealthDay, Heavy Drinking Part of Social Acceptance for Young: Study, September 10, 2010

However, a new study suggests that there is no “safe” level of drinking for teenagers, as researchers at Northumbria University have discovered that teen binge drinking affects prospective memory, or remembering to perform an intended action, such as remembering to meet a friend at a certain time, remembering a doctor’s appointment, or remembering to take medicine. This type of memory is essential to everyday life, as failures in prospective memory can negatively affect one’s professional life, relationships, and health.

Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks in one drinking session at least twice a week. Studies have found that this type of excessive drinking is extremely popular among those between the ages of 16 and 24. Research has shown that 44 percent of college students binge drink every two weeks, and 19 percent binge drink more than three times per week. With the prevalence of binge drinking among young people, it’s important to understand the impact of alcohol consumption on the still-developing brain.

Researchers led by Dr. Tom Heffernan tested the ability of 50 university students to remember a series of tasks. They were shown a 10-minute video clip of a shopping district and were asked to remember to follow a series of instructions when they saw specific locations. Of the 50 participants, 21 were considered binge drinkers. Teens who used other drugs like marijuana, tobacco, and ecstasy were excluded from the study, as were those who had consumed alcohol within the last 48 hours.

The study found that the non-binging participants remembered far more of the instructions than the binge drinkers, suggesting that excessive drinking may interfere with the development of the teenage brain. The study also found that binge drinkers didn’t perceive themselves to have poor memory recall, suggesting that teen drinkers are unaware of the damage that may be occurring.

Dr. Heffernan noted that their study underscores that there are no “safe” levels of drinking for teenagers, as the teenage brain is still developing. 

Sources: Northumbria University, No Safe Level: First Study to Show Teenage Binge Drinkers Harm Abilities in Later Life, July 29, 2010

Thomas M. Heffernan, The Impact of Excessive Alcohol Use on Prospective Memory: A Brief Review, September 28, 2007

According to a recent WMBF News report, as girls have increased access to drugs and alcohol, they are behaving more and more like boys. San Diego officials are focusing more on binge drinking as a tie to the rise in female violence.

A 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that roughly one in four girls between the ages of 12 and 17 has been engaged in at least one type of violent behavior in the past year.

Such behaviors are defined as girls fighting at school or work, or taking part in a group-against group fight or attacking someone with the intent to seriously hurt them. The survey showed that girls who fought were more likely than those who did not to have reported binge drinking and illicit drug use in the last thirty days.

Trauma Doctor Michael Sise noted that while binge drinking is just one of the many links in female violence, it is a key focus as it shows up in many high risk behaviors. At the same time, it is possible to intervene and stop binge drinking behavior.

"If you don’t make it clear that drinking is unacceptable, that violence is unacceptable, then you’re putting them in danger. It works to tell our kids what to expect it works to show up and be a force in their lives it’s our future and its their health and safety." Sise said.