By Jimmy Downs

Tuesday April 23, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Binge drinking in college can increase the risk for heart disease later in life, according to a new study released recently in Journal of the American College of Cardiology 

Shane A. Phillips, PT, PhD, senior author, from the University of Illinois at Chicago said "Binge drinking is neurotoxic and our data support that there may be serious cardiovascular consequences in young adults."

Previous studies have already associated binge drinking among adults aged 40 to 60 years with increased risk for stroke, sudden cardiac death and heart attack.  Dr. Phillips and colleagues conducted the current study and found early binge drinking can lead to heart disease later in life.

Two groups of healthy nonsmoking college students participated in the study, one group with a binge drinking habit and the other without drinking any alcohol.  Binge drinking was defined as consuming 5 or more standard size drinks, 12 ounces for beer, five ounces for wine and 1.5 ounces for 80 proof spirits or 8 to 9 ounces for malt liquor in a 2-hour period for males and four or more drinks during the same 2-hour period for females.

The participants were also surveyed for their medical history, diet, history of family alcohol use and frequency of binge drinking.

Binge drinkers were found to have impaired cellular function in endothelium and smooth muscles that control blood flow.  The impairment  observed similarly in individuals who drank alcohol heavily on a daily basis for a lifetime, can be a precursor for the development of atherosclerosis or otherwise known as hardening of the arteries, and other cardiovascular events including heart attack and stroke.

The adverse changes in vascular function induced by binge drinking were also observed in individuals with high blood pressure and cholesterol, meaning that the binge drinkers were at the same risk for heart disease as those with other heart disease risk factors like high cholesterol and or high blood pressure.

Alcoholic beverages are officically recognized as human carcinogens, that is, drinking alcohol can increase the cancer risk.  This is understandable because alcohol can converted into an aldehyde which is very toxic and can increase the risk of many diseases including cancer.