Binge Drinking in College Can Lead to Heart Disease Later in Life

Frequent binge drinking in college can cause immediate changes in circulation that increase an otherwise healthy young adult's risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, according to research published this week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Regular binge drinking is one of the most serious public health problems confronting our college campuses, and drinking on college campuses has become more pervasive and destructive," said Shane A. Phillips, PT, Ph.D, senior author and associate professor and associate head of physical therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Binge drinking is neurotoxic and our data support that there may be serious cardiovascular consequences in young adults."

College students age 18 to 25 years old have the highest rates of binge drinking episodes, with more than half engaging in binge drinking on a regular basis. Prior studies have found that binge drinking among adults age 40 to 60 years old is associated with an increase in risk for stroke, sudden cardiac death and heart attack, but the effect on younger adults has not been studied.

Researchers looked at two groups of healthy nonsmoking college students: those who had a history of binge drinking and those who abstained from alcohol. Binge drinking was defined as consuming five or more standard size drinks (12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80 proof spirits or 8-9 ounces of malt liquor) in a two-hour period for males and four or more standard size drinks in a two-hour period for females. On average, the students who binge drink had six such episodes each month over four years. Abstainers were defined as having consumed no more than five drinks in the prior year. Students were also questioned about their medical history, diet, history of family alcohol abuse and frequency of binge drinking. 

The study found that the binge drinkers had impaired function in the two main cell types (endothelium and smooth muscle) that control blood flow. These vascular changes were equivalent to impairment found in individuals with a lifetime history of daily heavy alcohol consumption and can be a precursor for developing atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and other cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke.

Binge drinkers were not found to have increased blood pressure or cholesterol, which are well-established risk factors for heart disease; however, both high blood pressure and cholesterol cause changes in vascular function similar to what the students demonstrated.

Visit www.CardioSmart.org for more information on the harmful effects of heavy alcohol use on heart health or for information on teen alcohol abuse.

Visit www.cadca.org/niaaa to access a new video and publication, entitled College and Drinking: A Risky Curriculum, which highlight research on binge and heavy drinking among college-age youth.

Alcohol, Drug Use A Greater Risk for Children of Deployed Parents

A new University of Iowa study suggests that military deployment of a parent puts children at an increased risk for drinking alcohol and using drugs. 

Using data from a statewide survey of sixth, eighth, and 11th-grade students in Iowa, the researchers found an increase in 30-day alcohol use, binge drinking, using marijuana and other illegal drugs, and misusing prescription drugs among children of deployed or recently returned military parents compared to children in nonmilitary families. The increased risk was consistent across all age groups. The findings are published online in the journal Addiction. 

"We worry a lot about the service men and women and we sometimes forget that they are not the only ones put into harm's way by deployment - their families are affected, too," says Stephan Arndt, Ph.D., UI professor of psychiatry in biostatistics and senior study author. "Our findings suggest we need to provide these families with more community support." 

In 2010, almost 2 million American children had at least one parent in active military duty, according to the Department of Defense. 

A second unexpected finding was the relationship between parental deployment, disruption of children's living arrangements, and increased risk of substance use. 

"When at least one parent is deployed, there are a measurable percentage of children who are not living with their natural parents," Arndt told Medical News Today. "Some of these children go to live with a relative, but some go outside of the family, and that change in these children's living arrangements grossly affected their risk of binge drinking and marijuana use." 

The study found that for children who were not living with a parent or relative, those with a deployed parent had a risk of binge drinking that was 42 percentage points higher than a student from a nonmilitary family. In comparison, children with a deployed parent who still were living with a parent had a risk of binge drinking that was about 8 percentage points higher than children of nonmilitary families who were living with a parent. 

Because the study surveyed only Iowa children, the nature of Iowa's military population may also affect the results, Arndt notes. In Iowa, along with Vermont, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, the largest portion of military personnel serve with the Reserve or the National Guard. These groups of military personnel live in civilian communities rather than on military bases and may have limited access to support services and resources designed to help military families. 

Although the study findings may be specific to families of National Guardsmen and women, Arndt said that the results agree with previous research that focused on risky behavior for children of deployed military men and women in Washington state, which unlike Iowa has a large active duty population. 

Does your coalition want to address substance abuse and quality of life issues with the veterans and their families in your community? The VetCorps project is being conducted by CADCA in partnership with the National Guard Bureau’s Prevention, Treatment and Outreach (PTO) Program with funding assistance from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). CADCA is recruiting AmeriCorps and VISTA members, and placing them in one of CADCA’s community coalitions located throughout the country to provide support to Veterans and Military Families (VMF) with a special emphasis on serving the needs of National Guard and Reserve VMF. 

Learn more about CADCA’s VetCorps project at http://www.cadca.org/VetCorps.