A study of laboratory animals found that consuming too much alcohol in adolescence could lead to osteoporosis and bone loss in adulthood.

• Researchers at Loyola University in Chicago exposed rats to large amounts of alcohol during their "teenage" years.
• Some receive the equivalent of one acute episode of binge drinking; others received amounts that would qualify as chronic binge drinking.
• The control group received only solutions instead of alcohol.

The "chronic binge group" showed changes in 300 genes, 180 were related to bones. They had damaged skeletons in adulthood.

The study appears in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism.
 

Labels: health_problems, binge drinking

Posted By: Jane St. Clair