May 25, 2012
Topics A-Z Brain and Nervous System Adolescent Binge Drinking and the Brain
Adolescent Binge Drinking and the Brain |
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Dear Ask The Doctor: I was a binge drinker as an adolescent, on a large number of occasions from 14 to 16 and then regularly from age 17 to 22 when it was more or less twice a week every weekend on Friday and Saturday nights. I have been plagued by guilt and regret over the possibility of permanent brain damage based on websites and reports I have recently become aware of over the last year. Is any damage I have caused reversible with prolonged abstinence over adulthood and have I bottled up any negative health effects as a result of my drinking? Dear Jonathan: Young people who binge drink is at serious risk of brain damage in the present and memory loss later on in the adulthood. Some researchers consider that the young brain, is “a work in progress” and for this reason is more susceptible to the neurotoxic effect of alcohol than the adult brain; also the alcohol impairs the activity of the memory and learning brain receptors. Experimentally it has been found that when large amounts of alcohol are consumed there is delay puberty in females and males. The alcohol, also may disrupt the adolescent brain’s ability to learn life skills, problem solving, verbal and non-verbal retrieval, visuospatial skills and working memory. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 15 April 2011 ) |
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