Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Binge drinking starts at five

Regular alcohol consumption can lead to binge drinking among all gender and age groups, a new study suggests.

“What we found is that when people drink more often, they are more likely to drink more, take more drinks, and go to binge drinking,” said Andree Demers of Universite de Montreal, the study’s main researcher.

She classified binge drinking as five drinks or more per occasion.

“Usually you take one or two drinks,” she said yesterday. “If you want to celebrate, you’re going to take two or three or four or five drinks.”

The study was conducted by researchers from the Universite de Montreal and the University of Western Ontario and published in the latest edition of Addiction.

The study established one drink as either five ounces of wine; 1.5 ounces of liquor; 12 ounces of beer or cooler; or three ounces of port, sherry or vermouth.

About 11,000 respondents — 5,743 women and 4,723 men — were asked to report on their alcohol consumption over a year. The data was gathered by the Genacis Canada project, an international collaboration looking at how social and cultural differences can influence drinking habits.

Demers said women tend to drink less than men.

Demers says the study is relevant given other studies that tout the health virtues of a moderate amount of beverages such as red wine.

“With all this publicity of having one glass, there is no problem with this, and drink moderately, we get the idea that we can drink every day and that’s OK,” Demers said.

“Of course that can be OK, but what we are saying is that there is a risk that people will start to drink more often in a heavy way on some occasions.”

Catherine Paradis, also a professor at the Universite de Montreal, pointed out regular drinking builds up tolerance.

“Therefore, daily drinkers will need more than their usual drink or two to make a difference with everyday life and gain that festive feeling. That fosters drinking beyond healthy limits — at least sporadically.

“The safe amount is always the same thing — one or two drinks per day, not more, and no intoxication.”and perhaps weekly — to five drinks or more per occasion.

“And five units is above the recommended limits of healthy drinking.”

source: London Free Press

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Profile of a recovering alcoholic: Don – in his own words

I first entered an AA meeting on July 6th, 1965. I did not like it and would have taken any other alternative were one available at the time. So, with no other alternative, I kept coming back. I did have one life saving conviction and that was that I could not drink. Not much else….

Exercise may fight addiction

New approaches for treating and preventing drug addiction range from low-tech – regular exercise – to high-tech such as experimental vaccines aimed at helping to prevent former drug users from relapsing. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is just as excited about both options. Of the two, though, exercise will probably….

The seriously inconvenient truth on drugs

For those who warmly applaud Gordon Brown’s declared desire to toughen up the law on cannabis, raising it from a Class C to Class B drug, there is always a simple question. How would you react if your son, or perhaps your grandchild – otherwise law-abiding and blameless citizens – were caught with that drug….

The symptoms of dual diagnosis

Dual diagnosis, as the name suggests, can be defined as the diagnosis of a major mental health disorder along with alcohol or substance addiction at the same time. In a survey, it was found that around 50 percent of the Americans suffered from this problem. Dual diagnosis can affect an individual physically, psychologically and also….

What Is Alcoholic Liver Disease? What Is Alcoholic Hepatitis?

Alcoholic liver disease, also called alcoholic hepatitis, refers to a range of conditions and related symptoms that develop when the liver becomes damaged due to excessive intake of alcohol. While distinct from cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis is regarded as the earliest stage of alcoholic liver disease. Alcohol has long been associated with serious liver diseases such….