Binge Drinking....Not Good!

          The article “Binge drinking raises diabetes risk by damaging the brain: study” discusses a new study done in Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  It found that binge drinking can raise the risk of diabetes later in life.  Binge drinking is defined as 4 drinks within 2 hours for a woman, and 5 drinks within 2 hours for a man.  The study was done on a group of rats.  One group of rats was given alcohol for 3 days and the other group, which was the control, was given only sugar calories.  The group of rats that were given had higher level of plasma insulin.  Insulin is a hormone that reduces blood sugar by helping cells take in glucose.  Higher level of plasma insulin is a sign of diabetes, because it shows the insulin is not being processed.  Not only that, they rats also had inflammation in their brain.  This proved that binge drinking caused diabetes by messing with the brain.  The part of the brain that it affects is the hypothalamus, which is a major endocrine organ.  It controls metabolism, and helps the body process insulin.  When the brain is swollen, the body becomes insulin resistant.  When the researchers blocked the protein that caused the inflammation, the rats were able to process insulin again.  Initially scientists thought insulin resistance in binge drinkers were due to liver damage, but this study proved them wrong.

          This article proves yet another way that alcohol is harmful to the body.  Alcohol is already known to contribute to obesity and liver damage.  There are also many accidents due to drunk drivers.  Now it causes brain inflammation and diabetes.  Why would any individual want to put themselves through so much torture?  Diabetes is already a huge problem in today’s society, and alcohol is contributing further to the problem.  I think bars should have more limits in alcohol consumption to at least try and limit the problem.  Also individuals need to think and behave more responsibly.  

Work  Cited

Miller, Tracy. "Binge Drinking Raises Diabetes Risk by Damaging the Brain: Study ." NY Daily News. Perle Vision, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2013. <http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/binge-drinking-ups-diabetes-risk-damaging-brain-article-1.1251457>.