Binge Drinking during College Ups Heart Disease Risk Later in Life

Young adults who binge drink on a regular basis are at an increased risk of heart disease later in life, a new study says.

"Regular binge drinking is one of the most serious public health problems confronting our college campuses, and drinking on college campuses has become more pervasive and destructive. Binge drinking is neurotoxic and our data support that there may be serious cardiovascular consequences in young adults," said Shane A. Phillips, associate professor from the University of Illinois at Chicago and senior author of the study.

The study included two groups of college students; with one group regularly binge drinking, while the other abstained from alcohol. In the study, binge drinking was defined as drinking five or more standard drinks in a two-hour period for males and over a four-hour period for females. Abstainers in the study had consumed only 4-5 drinks in the past year.

The study participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their medical history, alcohol abuse in the family, diet and frequency of binge drinking.

The study results showed that cells that control blood flow - the endothelium and the smooth muscle - weren't functioning as they were supposed to in people who frequently consumed large quantities of alcohol. The damage to the circulation system in these people was the same as the damage seen in people who were heavy drinkers throughout their lives. This kind of damage usually leads to heart disease, heart attack, atherosclerosis and stroke.

In the U.S., teens and young adults aged about 12 to 20 years drink 11 percent of all alcohol consumed in the country, and about 90 percent of this alcohol is drunk during a binge drinking session, says Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"It is important that young adults understand that binge drinking patterns are an extreme form of unhealthy or at-risk drinking and are associated with serious social and medical consequences. Discoveries and advances in many different areas of medical science have cautioned against the notion that youth protects against the adverse effects of bad lifestyle behaviors or choices," said  Mariann Piano, professor and head of the department of biobehavioral health science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and co-author of the study.

The study is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.