Teen drinking under parent's eye not harmless: Damages brain, encourages trouble

The European model of letting teens experiment with drinking at home – with meals or socially – doesn’t stand up to its alleged benefits of keeping them free of danger or educating them about responsible use. New research from Australia’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre suggests rethinking when parents permit young people to use alcohol because of damage to the brain.

The popular European theory has parents claiming 'they're better off drinking at home with me where I can supervise' in the belief this somehow protects teens from binge drinking later. The Research Centre studied 2000 families over four years and proved it doesn't work.

In the U.S. a 2011 Monitoring the Future Survey found one third of U.S. eighth graders and seven of 10 high school seniors had tried alcohol. Thirteen percent of eighth graders and 40 percent of twelfth graders drank during the past month. The Australian study found teenagers whose parents supply alcohol in early adolescence are three times as likely to be drinking full servings of alcohol at age 16 as children in families that do not supply alcohol.

Teen drinking, however, alters DNA, damages a developing brain, and can lead to health and behavioral trouble later on, according to the Australian study. (See related 2013 examiner article on Alcohol and DNA.) John Scott from Australia’s DrinkWise says: "We'd advise that parents delay for as long as possible, acknowledging that many parents know that their kids are going to start drinking or sneaking the occasional drink, but we'd say delay as long as possible."

Aside from the negative health outcomes, Ian Hickie from the University of Sydney’s Brain & Mind Research Institute says the assumed behavioral benefit of having kids ‘learn’ to drink at home doesn’t hold water: "In fact, it's the opposite, you've probably normalized the behavior and probably increase the chance that they'll drink irresponsibly in another place."

"Underage drinking should not be a normal part of growing up. It's a serious and persistent public health problem that puts our young people and our communities in danger," said U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. "Even though drinking is often glamorized, the truth is that underage drinking can lead to poor academic performance, sexual assault, injury, and even death." Teen drinking also can lead to alcohol abuse as an adult or the disease of alcoholism.

Oh, yeah… it’s also illegal in the U.S. and, in most jurisdictions, against the law for parents to supply it.

Parents have the biggest influence on their teen's drinking, and their vulnerable developing brains. Hickie adds, "It's important for you to say 'I'm concerned because your brain's still growing, I'm concerned that you won't get the maximum brain function at the end of the day.

“Being a responsible drinker comes down to making good decisions. To make good decisions, you need a brain that's reached full potential,” he concluded.

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Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Study finds counterintuitive father/son alcoholism link

A son's susceptibility for an alcohol use disorder may actually drop if dad drinks abusively before conception according to University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine rodent research. The June 4 study results suggest male offspring might drink less.

The research finds mice chronically exposed to alcohol before breeding had male offspring that were less likely to consume alcohol and were more sensitive to its effects. This could be a fresh take on the prior human studies indicating that alcoholism can run in families, particularly father to son. Research student, Andrey Finegersh, noted, "We suspected that the offspring of alcohol exposed sires would have an enhanced taste for alcohol, which seems to be the pattern for humans. Whether the unexpected reduction in alcohol drinking that was observed is due to differences between species or the specific drinking model that was tested is unclear."

Lead researcher, Gregg E. Homanics, notes, "Rather than mutation of the genetic sequence, environmental factors might lead to changes that modify the activity of a gene, which is called epigenetics. Our mouse study shows that it is possible for alcohol to modify the dad's otherwise normal genes and influence consumption in his sons, but surprisingly not his daughters."

The researchers plan to examine other drinking models such as binge drinking, identify how alcohol modifies the genes, and explore why female offspring appear unaffected.

In the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study, male mice were exposed to ethanol vapor over five weeks, leading to blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) slightly higher than the .08 legal limit for U.S. drivers. The exposed mice were mated to females who had not been exposed to alcohol. Compared to those of ethanol-free fathers, adult male offspring of ethanol-exposed mice consumed less alcohol when it was made available and were less likely to choose to drink it over water. Also, they were more susceptible to drinking's affect on motor control and an alcohol-induced reduction of anxiety.

The UPMC study, while contradictory to human gene studies, does confirm that alcohol consumed and its acetaldehyde byproduct leave a biological imprint on your DNA. (See Dec. 2013 article) According to alcoholism book, Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, the DNA change impacts the body's risk of more than 60 other diseases, beyond the disease of alcoholism. “Other diseases, like cancer, can surface later as a result of epigenetic changes. If the drinking doesn’t kill you immediately, it can kill you years down the road. Drinking often or in excess or both is like you’ve stepped out onto the highway: The truck just hasn’t hit you yet.”(from examiner.com, see full article)
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Scroll down for the replay of the April 13 Sound Health Options show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Alcohol alters DNA in young, otherwise healthy, social drinkers

A few "harmless" weekend beers found to cause genetic damage in young adults.George Stojkovic, Free Digital Photos

Alcohol's damage goes beyond physical and mental health, right down to the genetic material, according to research posted in the Nov. issue of the journal, Alcohol.

A study of university students analyzed the effect of weekend alcohol consumption on their DNA. Until now, the damage done to genes in the early stages of alcohol abuse has never been documented, according to the researchers, because most of the studies are done at later stages of the disease of alcoholism with people who have been consuming alcohol in an addictive way for many years. “That is why this study is pioneering because it deals with the effect of alcohol on young, healthy people,” the researchers reported.

The idea of studying the damaging “oxidative” effect of weekend alcohol consumption came about when researcher Adela Rendón was lecturing in Clinical Biochemistry at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico. Many of the students turning up for class first thing on Monday morning displayed a lack of attention and general malaise due to having a social drinking weekend the students regarded as "harmless."

The students were divided into two groups: the control group made up of the students who did not drink alcohol and the study group of those who drank an average of around a six-pack of beer on the weekend. Blood tests confirmed the 18- to 23-year-olds were otherwise healthy.

Oxidative damage is evaluated by a biochemical test and although the researchers expected to find oxidative damage, they were surprised by the result, as Rendón explained. “We saw that the ones who drank sustained twice as much oxidative damage compared with the group that did not consume alcohol.”

The results revealed damage in 8 percent of the cells in the non-drinking group and 44 percent in the drinkers: 5.3 times more damaged cells. “The fact is, there should not have been any damage at all because they had not been consuming alcohol for very long, they had not been exposed in a chronic way.”

The means by which alcohol manages to alter DNA is unclear. “When we talk about youth alcohol abuse, we are referring to youngsters who drink alcohol without having become addicted. Addiction involves a more complex issue. This is social alcohol use,” said the researcher, “but use which causes damage in the long term and you have to be aware of that.”
--from 12/31/13 Alcohologist.com, all rights reserved.

Виталий Смолыгин image, used with permission.

Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, plus the new radio interview replay is available at alcohologist.com... and please read the new interview with Scott Stevens at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international historical fiction novelist from the UK.