It’s Not What You Drink, it’s How You Drink . . .

Binge drinking is usually defined for men as having 5 or more drinks within 2 hours (4 or more for women). It (binge drinking) is responsible for a two-fold increase in the risk for a fatal heart attack, so it’s nothing to ignore. The same amount of alcohol spread over a few days, or a week, will provide protection against a number of conditions, including a reduced risk of heart attack.

Now research scientists have apparently discovered why binging is a serious risk. They are from the University of Rochester, and they’ve published their findings in the journal Atherosclerosis.

Alcoholic drinks, which contains ethanol, covert into acetaldehyde in the body when the ethanol intake is rapid, as in binging. The results of the study show that acetaldehyde causes monocytes (immune cells found in the blood) to become better able to stick to the vessel wall, an early step in initiating atherosclerosis. In fact, acetaldehyde at levels found in the blood after binge drinking increased monocyte adherence 7-fold. Monocyte adhesion to blood vessel linings precipitates a series of reactions that are able to culminate in atheroma formation.

If this information helps you avoid binge drinking, so much the better. If you need more evidence that it’s a harmful approach to alcohol consumption, have a look at this newspaper article.

Comments

[Alvin Hopkinson]

Binge drinking is definitely dangerous. In fact, anything that is consumed in large quantity over a short period of time is ALWAYS dangerous.

There's a news recently that a lady died because of overdose in water consumption. If I am not wrong, she drank 16L in a mere 2 hours and her blood got so diluted that it is fatal.