What is Binge Drinking?

When you were in college, did you and your buddies spend the week days planning how you would get totally trashed Friday night? Even now, do you look forward to a vacation where you will spend the nights - and days - drinking away? If so, you might be a binge drinker.

Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men on an occasion during the past 30 days.  Binge drinking is reported by one in six adults in the United States.  Those who binge drink generally do so a lot, and with high intensity.  

Most binge drinkers are not alcoholics, so why is it bad?  According to this report, binge drinking is alcohol abuse and leads to more than half of the estimated 80,000 average annual deaths and three quarters of $223.5 billion in economic costs resulting from excessive alcohol consumption in the United States.

Bad things can happen when people consume lots of alcohol in one sitting, such as unintentional injuries (e.g., car crashes, falls, burns, drowning), intentional injuries (e.g., firearm injuries, sexual assault, domestic violence), alcohol poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases, and unintended pregnancy.  A pattern of binge drinking in the long term can lead to high blood pressure, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, liver disease, neurological damage, sexual dysfunction, and poor control of diabetes.

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Maryland Politician Blames Alcohol Abuse on Fellow Politicians

Not "Driving Under the Influence," but "Boating Under the Influence."   That's what happens when country club politicians drink and play in their powerboats.  Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel County), was charged last month with operating a vehicle while under the influence. 

His drinking and boating were discovered when his boat was apparently hit by another boat - Dwyer does not appear to be the cause of the accident or the resulting injuries to others when his boat sank.  But getting soaked - and not with water - as a boat captain is against the law.  The story is here and here.  Check out this YouTube video showing what can happen.

It's Dwyer's later comments that cause further eye brow raising.  He said that state legislators who voted for Maryland's same-sex marriage bill forced him to drink.  That story is here. 

He was recently removed from the House Judiciary Committee where he had been a member for the last eleven years. 

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What Drinkers Avoid Reading About: Alcohol and Your Liver

Here is a reminder about drinking alcohol and your liver. It is not material that heavy drinkers enjoy reading, but it's critical to know.

Your healthy liver metabolises alcohol at the rate of about one drink an hour. But that doesn't mean you should consume one alcoholic drink an hour every day. When you drink regularly - a lot - your liver becomes fatty. This reduces the ability of your liver to metabolize alcohol. This occurrence is reversible - just stop or substantially reduce your alcohol intake. But when you continue to drink heavily beyond this stage in your life, you might develop an inflamed liver, or alcohol hepatitis. At this point, the damage is reversible.

Most everyone knows that continued heavy drinking over your lifetime may cause your liver to become cirrhotic. That is when your liver has become shrunken and scarred. About 15–20% of chronic heavy drinkers develop hepatitis or cirrhosis. You can prevent further damage to your liver - but not reverse it.  Continued drinking after this stage can result in liver failure and death.

Now keep those New Year's resolutions about cutting back on drinking! 

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DWI City Councilman Parks Van in Neighbor's Yard

A City Councilman from Lorain, Ohio tried to park his van in his driveway, but it became stuck in the tree lawn.  The problem was that it wasn't his driveway or lawn, and he was allegedly intoxicated.

He took a field sobriety test, but reportedly refused a breathalyzer test.  The story is here.

Wow, scrolling down I notice several blog posts here about politicans from Ohio.  What's up?


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"Addiction Can Touch Anyone"

 

We couldn't have said it better ourselves:  "Addiction can touch anyone."  That's from this short but informative article from Fox4kc.com.  We quote in full this important point:

Addiction can touch anyone, ravaging physical and mental health, relationships and personal finances. No one is immune to the frightening long-term impact of hard drug abuse. What follows is a sobering depiction of real individuals who`ve fallen victim to the temptation of drug use — in this case, Methamphetamine — whose devastating effects are all too apparent.

The article then goes on to display the ravaging effects of methamphetamine addiction.  It's worth checking out. 

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Ohio Politician Arrested

We are not too sure where Hanging Rock, Ohio is located.  But the Mayor of that town was arrested for either operating a vehicle while intoxicated, or for physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.  We're not too sure of that, either.  The story is here.

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Senators Are Not High and Mighty - Just DUI

 

Many people drink during the holidays, and as a result, many people are cited for drunk driving.  The people who earn our trust and votes, and who are thereby elected to public office unfortunately are no exception.   Though they may think they are high and mighty, it turns out they just have too much to drink every now and then.

At least that may have been the case with Senator Michael D. Crapo, a Republican from Idaho.  His party affiliation is identified here, though we caution you that no political party has the monopoly on substance abuse and addiction.  Alcohol tempts and seduces rich and poor, leaders and followers, bosses and workers, and Democrats and Republicans.  This time our post is about a Republican, but next time it is just as likely to be a drunk Democrat.  This is no political rant, folks. 

Senator Crapo was arrested in the wee hours of December 23rd for suspicion of drunk driving.  The story is here.   It is reported that his blood alcohol level was 0.11 percent - well over the 0.08 percent limit of Virginia where he was arrested.  If your blood alcohol level is 0.11, you may experience mood swings, feel angry or sad, have impaired reaction times, decreased motor control, stagger and speak with slurred speach.  We don't know how much the good Senator weighs, but to get a BAC of 0.11, a 200 lb. person would have to throw back around five drinks, at least according to this BAC chart.   

Senator Crapo is the fifth-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.  According to the biography on his website, Senator Crapo graduated from Brigham Young University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School.  After law school he clerked for the Ninth Circuit and became a partner in a law firm.

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