Binge drinking leads to mood disorders in teens--study
POSTED January 3, 2011 - 02:24 | POSTED BY Silky Chandvani
Last edited by Silky Chandvani on January 3, 2011 - 03:03
Binge drinking not only increases alcohol dependence, but also results in negative behavioral consequences like cognitive impairment, depression, increased suicidal tendencies, and alcohol induced psychiatric disorders, warn researchers.
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, found that exposing adolescent rats to high amounts of alcohol permanently interfered with the hormones produced in response to stress.
This disruption in stress hormones "might lead to behavioural and/or mood disorders in adulthood," the researchers reported.
Long-term effect of binge drinking assessed
In order to assess the link between alcohol consumption and future risk of depression, lead researcher Toni R. Pak, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Cell and Molecular Physiology, Loyola University Health System, examined the long-term effects of binge drinking on production of corticosterone, a stress hormone, in rats.
During the study, researchers exposed the adolescent rats to a 8-day binging pattern, three days of drinking, followed by a two-day break, and then again three days of binging.
On binge drinking days, the experimental rats were injected with enough alcohol required to raise their blood alcohol concentration between 0.15 percent and 0.2 percent.
On the other hand, a control group of mice were administered saline injections.
One month later, the same group of rats was exposed to one of the three drinking patterns: saline solution, one time alcohol injection, and a binge drinking pattern.
Study findings
Findings of the study revealed that excessive alcohol consumption in puberty alters brain's response to stress hormone and disrupts body’s natural mechanism to overcome stress in the long run.
"Exposing young people to alcohol could permanently disrupt normal connections in the brain that need to be made to ensure healthy adult brain function," opined Pak.
It is estimated that currently nearly 90 percent of alcohol consumed by teens is in the form of binge drinking.
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