According to a new study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), just a single alcohol binge can cause bacteria to leak from the gut, and increase levels of bacterial toxins in the blood. Earlier studies have tied chronic alcohol use to increased gut permeability, wherein potentially harmful products can travel through the intestinal wall and be carried to other parts of the body, but this study is the first to show that even a single binge event can have a similar effect.
Binge drinking is defined by NIAAA as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08g/dL or above. For a typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming five or more drinks for men, or four or more drinks for women, in about two hours. In the study, 11 men and 14 women were given enough alcohol to raise their BAC to at least .08 g/dL within an hour.
Dr. Gyongyi Szabo, Professor and Vice Chair of Medicine and Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who lead the study, said these findings are significant because it proves that drinking heavily even just once can have long-term impacts.
“The study now demonstrates that even a single binge drinking event can have negative consequences on the body, even in a healthy individual. Our observations suggest that an alcohol binge is more dangerous than previously thought,” he said.
In the study, a single alcohol binge in normal subjects resulted in a rapid increase in levels of bacterial toxins (called endotoxins) in the blood, and that even a modest increase had substantial biological effects.
Increased levels of endotoxins were shown to affect the immune system, with the body producing more immune cells involved in fever, inflammation, and tissue destruction. Alcohol binge can also alter immune functions which reduces the body’s defense to pathogens. Greater gut permeability and increased endotoxin levels have been linked to many of the health issues related to chronic drinking, including alcoholic liver disease and organ damage in the brain.
Dr. Szabo notes that “this study shows that binge drinking is not benign, and has major biological impacts, and may also impact chronic drinking behavior. At least in animals, this increased endotoxin level, as based on our study, contributes to alcohol dependence and promotes prolonged increase of alcohol intake.”
Further study on this in humans may show that the factors that lead to increased alcohol intake may be biological, not just psychological. The bodily damage caused by binge drinking behavior may lead to further desire for alcohol.
Binge drinking has significantly greater health impacts on women than men, this study also found. Despite the similar BMIs of the males and females in the study, compared to men, women showed a slower decrease in BAC, and even 24 hours after the alcohol binge, women had higher BAC than men.
Serum endotoxin levels were also higher overall in women than in men after alcohol intake, and a significant difference in endotoxin level was observed between genders after four hours. Dr. Szabo warned that women should keep these greater consequences in mind when consuming alcohol.
People likely to engage in binge drinking behavior, especially teens and young adults, should be made aware that binge drinking can lead to more than a hangover. This study shows that binge drinking causes an immune response and inflammation, leading to health consequences in even healthy individuals, especially in women. Initial findings also point to a potential relationship between this response and in increased desire to consume more alcohol, demonstrating that binge drinking behavior may lead the body to crave alcohol and lead to dependence.
SEE ALSO:
CADCA’s underage drinking and excessive drinking prevention resources created in partnership with NIAAA.
New Study Finds States With Stronger Alcohol Policies Have Less Binge Drinking
Dr. Gyongyi Szabo, Professor and Vice Chair of Medicine and Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who lead the study, said these findings are significant because it proves that drinking heavily even just once can have long-term impacts.
“The study now demonstrates that even a single binge drinking event can have negative consequences on the body, even in a healthy individual. Our observations suggest that an alcohol binge is more dangerous than previously thought,” he said.
In the study, a single alcohol binge in normal subjects resulted in a rapid increase in levels of bacterial toxins (called endotoxins) in the blood, and that even a modest increase had substantial biological effects.
Increased levels of endotoxins were shown to affect the immune system, with the body producing more immune cells involved in fever, inflammation, and tissue destruction. Alcohol binge can also alter immune functions which reduces the body’s defense to pathogens. Greater gut permeability and increased endotoxin levels have been linked to many of the health issues related to chronic drinking, including alcoholic liver disease and organ damage in the brain.
Dr. Szabo notes that “this study shows that binge drinking is not benign, and has major biological impacts, and may also impact chronic drinking behavior. At least in animals, this increased endotoxin level, as based on our study, contributes to alcohol dependence and promotes prolonged increase of alcohol intake.”
Further study on this in humans may show that the factors that lead to increased alcohol intake may be biological, not just psychological. The bodily damage caused by binge drinking behavior may lead to further desire for alcohol.
Binge drinking has significantly greater health impacts on women than men, this study also found. Despite the similar BMIs of the males and females in the study, compared to men, women showed a slower decrease in BAC, and even 24 hours after the alcohol binge, women had higher BAC than men.
Serum endotoxin levels were also higher overall in women than in men after alcohol intake, and a significant difference in endotoxin level was observed between genders after four hours. Dr. Szabo warned that women should keep these greater consequences in mind when consuming alcohol.
People likely to engage in binge drinking behavior, especially teens and young adults, should be made aware that binge drinking can lead to more than a hangover. This study shows that binge drinking causes an immune response and inflammation, leading to health consequences in even healthy individuals, especially in women. Initial findings also point to a potential relationship between this response and in increased desire to consume more alcohol, demonstrating that binge drinking behavior may lead the body to crave alcohol and lead to dependence.
SEE ALSO:
CADCA’s underage drinking and excessive drinking prevention resources created in partnership with NIAAA.
New Study Finds States With Stronger Alcohol Policies Have Less Binge Drinking
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