How Binge Drinking Alters Your Genes

Scientists say binge drinking causes epigenetic changes in histone structures in the liver.
“Epigenetic alterations are changes in genes that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence or genetic code,” says Shivendra Shukla, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 grams percent or above.

Typically this is when:

• men consume five or more drinks  over a two-hour period
• women consume four or more drinks over a two-hour period.

“We know that chronic alcohol use is damaging to the liver, but binge drinking amplifies that damage,” says Shukla, lead author of the new study.

Histones are proteins that act like a spool to compact and organize the thread-like DNA strands that wrap around them. Histones work to protect the DNA strand and help it function correctly.

Histone modification does occur naturally, but binge drinking results in unnatural modifications to histones. These changes adversely affect how a person’s genetic code is interpreted and how it is regulated.

“Every response in the body is due to alterations in proteins,” Shukla says. “Binge drinking is an environmental trigger that negatively affects histones by altering the correct binding of DNA. The result is unnecessary replication in the copied structure. This initially causes inflammation and damage to the cells as they form, but it is also eventually the cause of more serious diseases such as cirrhosis and cancer.”

Not just the liver

Because the liver is the main metabolic site in the body, it is the first organ to experience damage from binge drinking. The liver is responsible for nutrient and drug metabolism and distribution, as well as the production of multiple agents that are needed for the heart, kidney, blood vessels, and brain to function properly, liver damage can affect many other systems in the body.

“It is important to specify that binge drinking should not be associated only with liver damage,” Shukla says. “Binge drinking can create an inflammatory response in the liver that is like a cluster bomb, sending out various damaging signals to other organ systems in the body. If those organs are working at a lower level of function, then a whole host of physiological processes are affected as a consequence of binge drinking.”

Shukla says that excessive alcohol consumption with a binge drinking pattern is emerging as a major public health concern globally. In the US, binge drinking is the most common form of excessive alcohol use―so common in fact, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports approximately one in six adults binge drinks about four times each month.

“This is not a problem that is going away,” says Shukla. “It is actually growing. More work is needed on the research we are doing, but findings such as these are very promising and may lead to future treatments for alcohol-related liver damage.”

More info http://www.futurity.org/binge-drinking-genes-781672/

The study was recently published in Hepatology International.

Source: University of Missouri

Don’t Bottle It Up!

Have you visited the Don’t Bottle It Up website yet
The newly launched website provides a two-minute online test which can help identify the early signs of harmful drinking.

The test contains ten multiple choice questions on the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption, drinking behaviour and alcohol-related problems and, once completed, the Don’t Bottle It Up website can connect people to specialist alcohol services in their area.

The website also offers guidance at the click of a button, such as:

• Tips for cutting down
• Help and support
• How to help someone else
• Treatment for alcohol use
• Giving up drinking
• Key facts about alcohol

To take the test please visit https://dontbottleitup.org.uk/

Alcohol Apps Aimed at Young

Professor Lynne Eagle led a team studying free apps involving alcohol use and found nearly 80 percent promote heavy drinking.

Professor Eagle, whose research specialties include marketing communication effectiveness and the impact of persuasive communication on children, said there are no age restrictions on any of the apps and mny are clearly aimed at young people and likely to work well. Apps like 'Drink Thin'—which promotes an alcohol-only diet—and 'Drunk College Sorority Girls & Frat Boy Party Edition' blatantly encourage unhealthy, unsafe or violent behavior in concert with drinking.

"Presenting smoking and drinking in an entertainment context encourages young people to start smoking and drinking. There is plenty of material showing that what they are doing is effective."

The paper estimated some $100 million of alcohol tax revenue in 2010 came from underage drinkers.
Professor Eagle said self-regulation was failing and the Government had to step in and insist on effective measures.

"If the industry can't effectively regulate itself then it allows the cowboys to develop and use these apps. You don't want to have to wait for a generation of teens to start showing signs of problem drinking before you act."

Drink-driver tries to explain why his car is wrecked to police

A driver was so drunk he told police his car was 'fine' – while sitting at the wheel of a car that had been crashed and rolled over.

The incident was caught on camera and posted on YouTube by Sussex Police. It shows shows PC Andy Green responding to an incident involving a crashed car on Lickfold Road in the village of Fernhurst of West Sussex on the 24th of December, 2014.

PC Andy Green begins by asking the driver, Christopher Squires, if he is okay, having noticed substantial damage to the Volkswagen Polo. The inebriated 28-year-old replies: "Yeah, not too bad mate."

The cop then asks if any injuries have been sustained. "No I'm fine, the car is fine... I've had a few drinks but I'm not drunk," he says, clearly slurring his words.

Squires claims on multiple ocassions throughout the video that he was "just trying to turn the car around" and that it had been damaged before he drove it. He also reveals he only has a provisional licence, before attempting to lie about his identity in a last-ditch attempt to get out of trouble.

Police were easily able to ascertain his real identity. A breathalyser test, meanwhile, found he was more than twice the legal limit of 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath.

Squires pleaded guilty to drink-driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance at Crawley Magistrates Court on January 6th. He escaped a jail sentence, but was banned from driving for 20 months and had to pay a £320 fine, £85 in costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Superintendent Jane Derrick said: "Squires made a series of ridiculous attempts to avoid justice. He claimed the damage to his car was old, when it clearly wasn't. He tried to use a fake name, which we were able to quickly prove was not his own.

"He did not have a full driving licence but said that we were wasting his time and taxpayers' money by arresting and questioning him. We will not tolerate
drink-driving and the ban given by the magistrates shows they considered his offences to be serious as well."