Effects of binge drinking may include brain impairment in just months

October 16, 2012

Bill Cosby was on to something when he addressed this country's propensity for binge drinking. Speaking in his 'Bill Cosby, Himself' special from 1983, he said, "It's always strange. I've had a lot of people work for me, and I've found out it's a funny thing that you give them Saturday and Sunday off, and they work so hard to get to those two days and those are the two days that they totally destroy themselves. I mean, you know you think to yourself, you say, 'My goodness, I've really pounded these people and worked to them to death.' And Friday comes and they say, 'Yeah!' And then they come in Monday and say, 'Boy, am I glad to be back here. I'm no good on my own. I was given two whole days and I just went crazy.'"

We do have a culture of binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as men who drink 5 or more alcoholic drinks and women who drink 4 or more in a short period of time. It's important to understand that someone who binge drinks is not necessarily someone who would be classified as alcohol-dependent. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently issued some surprising statistics on binge drinking demographics.

Binge drinking increases the likelihood that one might hurt themselves or others, increasing accidents, violent behavior and the likelihood of suicide. Binge drinking is estimated to claim some 80,000 lives in the United States each year. In 2006, the last year with statistics available, it was estimated that the cost of binge drinking to our economy was $223.5 billion. This is reflected across all states, regardless of population size, as people are binge drinking in higher quantities and more often.

With binge drinking factored in, drinking too much costs, on average, $746 per person, or $1.90 a drink. These costs include health care expenses, crime and lost productivity. The CDC has identified 54 individual injuries and diseases that are closely associated with excessive drinking. These include car crashes, violence and sexually-transmitted diseases. And the likelihood that one might get sick and/or die from binge drinking is significantly increased as well.

To read more, click this link: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112714361/effects-of-binge-drinking-brain-impairment-101612/

Source: Red Orbit

Liquid nitrogen cocktails: Smoking hot trend or unnecessary risk? 

October 10, 2012

Doctors use liquid nitrogen - a substance registering a wickedly cold 321 degrees below zero Fahrenheit - to freeze warts so they dry up and fall off. Yes, folks, this stuff kills tissue. So imagine what it might do to your stomach if you drink some.

Unfortunately, a British teen recently found out the hard way. The Telegraph reports this week that an 18-year-old had a portion of her perforated stomach removed after sipping the stuff in a trendy cocktail where the substance was used to chill the glass and create a smoky vapor.

And, as ABC News puts it, "celebrity chefs, master mixologists and medical experts from around the world are steamed up" over it.

"Anything that is the least bit hazardous does not belong in the bar," Ray Foley, editor of Bartending Magazine, tells ABC. "People are getting out of hand with these products to show off and not take care of their clients. This nitrogen cocktail; it's ridiculous."

To read more, click this link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/10/162636324/liquid-nitrogen-cocktails-smoking-hot-trend-or-unnecessary-risk

Source: NPR

For women, alcohol dependence twice as deadly

September 17, 2012

Study after study has shown that alcohol affects women differently than men, but a new German paper finds that alcohol is particularly devastating for women who struggle with addiction.

Alcohol dependence, it concludes, is twice as deadly for women as it is for men.

According to the study, started in 1996 and published online Tuesday in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, the death rate for alcohol-dependent women was more than four times that of a sample of non-addicted 18- to 64-year-olds. The death rate among alcohol-dependent men was about twice that of the general population over the 14-year study period.

On average, the alcohol-addicted men and women were about 20 years younger than members of the general population at the time of their death, explained study author Ulrich John, director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.

To read more, click this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/women-alcohol-dependence-death_n_1973713.html

Source: Huffington Post

World's leading drinks producers agree on efforts to reduce harmful use of alcohol 

October 10, 2012

A series of actions designed to strengthen and expand existing efforts to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, have been agreed by the world's leading producers of beer, wine and spirits.

Ten targeted actions over the next five years include:

•  Reducing underage drinking, via enforcement of current laws and encouraging governments to introduce and enforce minimum purchase ages
• Continuing to strengthen and expand marketing codes of practice that are rooted in our resolve not to engage in marketing that could encourage excessive and irresponsible consumption, with a particular focus on digital marketing
• Making responsible product innovations and developing easily understood symbols or equivalent words to discourage drinking and driving and consumption by pregnant women and underage youth
• Reducing drinking and driving by collaborating with governments and non-governmental organizations to educate and enforce existing laws
• Enlisting the support of retailers to reduce harmful drinking and create 'guiding principles of responsible beverage alcohol retailing

Pernod Ricard vice-chairman of the board and CEO Pierre Pringuet said: "I and my fellow CEOs believe that this programme of actions is concrete, deliverable and, most importantly, capable of being measured and evaluated.

"As the CEOs of our global companies, we want to have a role in working to limit harmful drinking and intend to implement these commitments with the same passion and professionalism that we invest in all of our other business activities and goals," said Pringuet

To read more click this link: http://www.drinksint.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/3354/World_92s_leading_drinks_producers_agree_efforts_to_reduced_harmful_use_of_alcohol__.html 

Source: Drinks International