The findings, presented Nov. 20 at a meeting in Atlanta of the Gerontological Society of America, suggest that alcohol abusers who are older than 60 consume more than 40 drinks a week, and younger alcoholics consume 25 to 35 drinks a week. Older drinkers are also more likely to binge drink, which means drinking large amounts of alcohol in one sitting.

"A combination of high levels of drinking and the physiological effects of aging are particularly problematic for older adults," said Linda Ginzer, co-author of the study and a doctoral student in social work at Ohio State University.

The researchers reached their conclusions after analyzing a national survey of more than 43,000 people taken between 2000 and 2001. People older than 60 who suffered from alcohol dependency drank in binges an average of 19 times a month, whereas younger people in the same category averaged 13 to 15 binges a month, the study found.

"More often than not, we think of binge drinking as occurring among college students or those in their 20s," said another co-author, Virginia Richardson, a professor of social work at Ohio State.

"But the fact is, binge drinking occurs among older people as well, and it is, in fact, worse among those who have problems with alcohol."

In fact, Ginzer said, binge drinking "may be a better measure of problem drinking than just the total amount of drinks someone has per week."

According to a new study in the British medical journal the Lancet, as of 2004, 3.8 percent of deaths worldwide were the result of alcohol consumption. Alcohol-related causes of death include accidents, violence, poisoning, mouth and throat cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, suicide, stroke, and more.

Lead author Jürgen Rehm of the University of Toronto told TIME that the increase was primarily the result of an increased number of women drinking. He also said the increase in the rate of alcohol-related deaths is particularly troubling because the researchers took into account the cardiovascular benefits of moderate drinking and because the majority of the world’s population currently abstains from alcohol. But as India and China become wealthier, the death rate will probably increase further unless steps are taken to combat the problem.

“Alcohol consumption, particularly among women, is linked to economic growth,” said Rehm. “In countries like the U.K. and Norway, you have women consuming over 30% of [all the alcohol consumed]. In India, on the other extreme, women consume less than 5%. The higher the wealth of a country, the higher the percentage of women drinking alcohol.”

A separate study in the Lancet found that alcohol caused more than half of the deaths of Russian adults between 1990 and 2001, during the tumultuous years following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Globally, average alcohol consumption per person is about 1.6 gallons (6.2 liters) of pure ethanol a year, or about 12 units a week. The highest annual consumption per person was in Europe, with 3.1 gallons (11.9 liters) of ethanol (21.5 units per week). North America’s average is 2.5 gallons (9.4 liters) a year (18 units per week) and 0.2 gallons (0.7 liters) a year (1.3 units a week) in the eastern Meditteranean.

“Globally, the effect of alcohol on the burden of disease if about the same size as that of smoking in 2000,” said Rehm. Despite the prevalence of tobacco in the world, alcohol is ranked the number-one risk factor in 27 emerging economies.

Rehm said the most cost-effective way to control alcohol-related harms is to raise the price of alcohol. “There’s already evidence that this works,” he said. For example, in France and Italy, alcohol consumption has steadily declined over the past 25 years as the price of drinks has gone up. “Despite all stereotypes, Italy now has the lowest consumption of any European country,” Rehm said. “And it’s largely because alcohol is relatively expensive.”

Rehm added that while an end to deaths and disability caused by alcohol is in sight, it is a frustratingly difficult goal to reach. “The solution can only be to reduce the overall amount of drinking,” he said. “But that’s pretty hard to do—to get humanity to learn to drink one or two units a day, and never more.”

Binge drinking is an intense consumption of alcoholic drinks (4-6 in a session) followed by intermittent periods of alcohol abstinence. Binge drinking has long been a problem for college students and college-age young adults. The physical consequences of binge drinking consist of drunk-driving accidents, alcohol related illness, and approximately 1,700 students deaths each year from alcohol poisoning. There are many social consequences to binge drinking, it can impair judgment and make people say or do things that they wouldn’t normally. This can lead to fractured friendships and relationships.

Binge drinking is detrimental to the education of college students. Alcohol abuse can make it hard for them to concentrate in classes. According to a recent National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism report, “Nearly 25 percent of all college students report academic consequences of drinking, including missing class, failing behind, doing poorly on exams or papers and receiving lower grades overall.”

Binge drinking is most common among college students despite the educational consequences. The students’ age is partially to blame, young adults are known for experimenting with drinking and drugs. Binge drinking is far more dangerous than social drinking. It is a phenomena that concerns both parents and educators. To curb binge drinking we have to attack the source, colleges that promote the culture of binge drinking.

Binge drinking appeals to students because of their schedule. Durning the school week they are busy with classes and homework, their study time often spills over into weekend leisure hours. When the studding is finally done, they have much relaxing to do in a small amount of time. This leads to the consumption of many drinks, almost all at once. Fraternity, club, and sports team initiation rites can include binge drinking. These ‘hazing’ rituals involve extreme drinking. Hazing has caused the deaths of several US college students.

Binge drinking is a localized problem, it is prevalent on some college campuses, while entirely absent on others. The differences between these campuses are key to the restraint of binge drinking. Colleges with emphasis on fraternity and sorority life have higher rates of binge drinking. Schools that have bars, stores that serve alcohol, or bars close to campus also have higher rates. Students that live off of campus have an increased chance of binge drinking.

The solution seems obvious, schools can limit binge drinking if they restrict the students’ access to alcohol. Don’t put a bar on the campus if you don’t want students to drink. Campuses with bars argue that they are for responsible drinkers. The bar is on safe ground if someone should become carelessly intoxicated. The problem is, many students are not responsible. That is why we ship them off to educational facilities that also provide food and housing. College is the ‘training wheels’ for life’s bicycle ride.

Many schools in Orange County, Florida have started an initiative to limit or end drink specials in the bars around college campuses. The county officials have also proposed lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen, they feel that this will end binge drinking as rite of passage. Opponents feel that lowing the drinking age will only exacerbate the problem. Limiting drink specials is a start, but educators need to take more steps to end the students’ perception of college as a place to binge drink.

Schools need to address the binge drinking culture that seems to go hand in hand with fraternities and sorties. Much of the damage is done during alcohol-rich hazing rituals. Hazing has spread to other institutions, there is a rising number of college sports teams that initiate with alcohol hazing. Schools should not only ban alcohol hazing, but they should ban hazing altogether. Colleges should leave no room for these unpredictable rites.

There are many ways that parents can help prevent their students from binge drinking. They can choose colleges that have alcohol free campuses. Parents can find ‘dry’ campuses and read up on binge drinking at http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/. Many college students will still drink, regardless of how easily they can obtain alcohol. Parents should discuss the difference between responsible, social drinking and harmful binge drinking. Parents should encourage sensible drinking though open dialogue and loving concern.

Related Information: College Binge Drinking

References

“Binge drinking most affected by environment, says Wechsler”. (2008, August 18). Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly.

Courtney, K., & Polich, J. (2009, January). “Binge Drinking in Young Adults: Data, Definitions, and Determinants”. Psychological Bulletin, 135(1), 142-156.

“Florida Colleges Targeting Binge Drinking.” (2008, November 3). Community College Week.

“If a person needs more alcohol to get a certain effect, that person tends to drink more each time they imbibe,” said Marc A. Schuckit, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego and co-author of the study. “Other studies we have published have shown that these individuals also choose heavy drinking peers, which helps them believe that what they drink and what they expect to happen in a drinking evening are ‘normal,’” Schuckit continued. “This low LR (level of response), which is perhaps a low sensitivity to alcohol, is genetically influenced.”

Since the 1970s, scientists have been investigating the apparent link between an individual’s resistance to alcohol’s effects and a higher risk of alcohol use disorders later in life. But many people didn’t believe it existed, Shuckit said. From 19877 to 1988, Schuckit and his colleagues analyzed data collected on 297 men between the ages of 18 and 25. Each participant underwent tests to measure his response to alcohol, but despite similar blood-alcohol levels, the degree of impairment varied substantially. The men also provided background information such as their body mass index, how much they typically drank, the age at which they first drank, and whether alcoholism ran in their families.

The participants were interviewed again after 10, 15, 20, and 25 years, and these follow-up interviews showed that the men who were least affected by alcohol at age 20 were two to three times as likely to be dependent on alcohol at 30 or 40. These differences in risk remained even when researchers compared only men for whom the other risk factors—how much they drank, age of drinking onset, and family history—were equal.

“A low LR at age 20 was not just a reflection of being a heavier drinker at age 20 when we tested these men, and it wasn’t an artifact of an earlier onset of drinking,” said Schuckit. “We showed that a low LR at 20 predicts later heavy drinking and alcoholism even if you control for all these other predictors of alcohol problems at age 20.” He added that the method of examination strongly shows “that LR is consistent and powerful in predicting alcoholism.”

Schuckit speculates that 60 percent of alcoholism risk is genetic and 40 percent stems from lifestyle and environmental factors; resistance to alcohol’s effects seems to be a genetic trait. Schuckit advises that “…if you’re an alcoholic, you need to tell your kids that they are at a four-fold increased risk of developing alcoholism. If your kid does drink, find out if they can ‘drink others under the table,’ and warn them that that is a major indication they have the risk themselves. Keep in mind, however, that the absence of a low LR doesn’t guarantee they won’t develop alcoholism, as there are other risk factors as well.”

Schuckit and his team are currently investigating genes that they suspect play a role in alcoholism risk. “We are looking for ways to identify this risk early in life, and to find ways to decrease the risk even if you carry a low LR … so there is hope for the future.”