Whether it’s for social or personal reasons, most of us like a drink. Some live for the weekends; spending a fair chunk of their wage on taxis and shots; while others enjoy a nice quiet drink a few times a week with close friends and family members. In moderation, drinking can be an enjoyable and relatively safe way to socialise, but there are a hell of a lot of people who use don’t live by moderation. The number of binge drinkers in the UK seems to be growing on a yearly basis, but it can be a very dangerous way of drinking if you’re not careful.
So, what is binge drinking? Well, according to the clever people of the world, it’s when you drink a minimum of four drinks and above at a time. Basically, a big session on a night out is binge drinking. Most people do it, and most people definitely wouldn’t describe their drinking habits as binge drinking - but, in theory, they are.
Unfortunately, while binge drinking is easily done, it has been reported that it can be very dangerous, too. A new report has shown that older people who binge drink are more likely to suffer damage to their brains, with reported accelerated memory loss and thinking ability. The study, which was done undertaken by Dr Iain Lang, from the University of Exeter's Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, noted that they are fully aware that binge drinking is dangerous for all parts of the body, but especially for the heart – most worryingly, heart issues such as heart disease can be a by-product from binge drinking. The report also showed that the older generations suffered from an increased danger of a reduction in brain performance, such as memory.
So, that’s the scientific proof behind binge drinking – especially for older people – but what of the younger generations? We’ve all seen teenagers drinking on a night out – they go hard. Binge drinking is just a night out for these teenagers, but while they may be socialising they’re also doing serious damage. Liver damage can be achieved by too much binge drinking and, for the younger people of today, that’s the last thing they need when they have their whole life to live.
Couple that with the possibility to becoming addicted to the stuff and you’ve got a recipe for disaster unless moderation is taken seriously. If one becomes an alcoholic, it becomes a very difficult situation. Depression can set in, jobs can be lost and family members could disown them. Drinking has become a lot of people’s way to escape, but binge drinking can be dangerous and can ruin a life which was potentially looking very promising.
With introductions like alcopops, teenagers are now binge drinking with supreme ease, which can cause serious issues at school, college and university.
Drinking, in moderation, is something we can all partake in and enjoy, it’s just when things are taken to extremes when it gets a bit dangerous.
Know your limits, keep drinking to a sensible level and try not to binge.
About the Post
Big thanks to Cancer Research UK for their help in this article. If you're interested in getting involved in something new, then why not check out their current charity jobs