The Sobering Reality of Binge Drinking Over Age 30

What is Bing drinking?

Binge drinking refers to the consumption of five or more drinks in two hours by men, and four or more drinks in two hours by women. It has been shown that binge drinking can be quite dangerous, especially after age 30, which means it’s time to take action before serious consequences occur. You don’t want to lose any of your organs, do you? Here are some sobering facts about binge drinking over age 30 that may make you change your ways if you currently engage in this risky behavior on the regular. One of the most common mistakes people make when they start drinking regularly is assuming that as long as you don’t drink to excess every day, you can binge on any occasion and suffer no consequences. While this assumption may be true in your late teens and early 20s, it’s not true once you hit your 30s or 40s. Over age 30, binge drinking can have unexpected consequences that you should know about before you plan your next party or night out with friends. Read on to learn more about the trouble with binge drinking over age 30.

A Gradual Decrease in Brain Health

While regular moderate drinking can protect your brain, drinking too much, even over a short period, can cause a serious decline in cognitive function. An Increase in Degenerative Disorders: As you get older, there’s a higher risk for diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia; binge-drinking increases that risk. . A higher chance of addiction and relapse: Moderate drinking can help prevent addiction and alcohol abuse but heavy or binge drinking will bring those risks to light.

•  A Rupture in the Blood-Brain Barrier: If you binge drink when you’re younger, your brain is still developing and has a chance to recover from excessive alcohol consumption. But if you continue to binge drink well into your 20s and beyond, it can be devastating. As we age, our livers produce less of an enzyme called gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). GGT works as a cleaner that dissolves excess alcohol before it enters our bloodstream. With reduced GGT production, blood-brain barrier damage becomes more likely because alcohol is allowed to permeate unchecked into our brains. The results are memory loss and cognitive impairment.

• Risk of Alcohol Poisonings: As you get older, your body can’t process alcohol as quickly. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to nausea and vomiting, and as anyone who’s taken a drunken dare knows choking on your vomit. While that’s never fun at any age, being older makes it more likely that you will pass out before your body can expel all of its toxins. The result: alcohol poisoning and an even higher risk for choking on one's vomit than when drunk at a younger age.

• Reduced Sleep Quality: When you’re a student, it’s easy to justify a late night out with friends as an opportunity to catch up on sleep. but once you hit your 30s, alcohol doesn’t have quite such a benevolent effect. Frequent binge drinking has been linked to insomnia and sleep-related breathing disorders. According to The Huffington Post, between 50% and 70% of people report that their sleep quality decreases as they get older. This can be due to many factors, including stress levels, diet changes, and other health issues. As a result, you may find yourself waking up more frequently at night or struggling to fall asleep in general. This is especially true if you continue to drink heavily throughout adulthood. Alcohol can also reduce your REM (rapid eye movement) sleep cycles the time when we dream and our brains process information while we rest. Although there isn’t much research on how REM cycles are affected by alcohol specifically, studies have shown that REM cycles are reduced in people who consume large amounts of caffeine or smoke cigarettes regularly (both habits associated with binge drinking).

• Reduced Sex Drive: Your sex drive may drop off slightly when you’re under pressure, but binge drinking can cause a more-significant dip in your libido. One study found that alcohol consumption can be directly linked to sexual dysfunction in women. What’s worse, alcoholic men have been shown to have lower testosterone levels than their sober counterparts. Testosterone is responsible for producing and maintaining erections, so if men lose it because of too much booze, they could develop erectile dysfunction.

• Reduced Fertility: Alcohol can reduce fertility in men and women by reducing sexual function, making it harder to have sex or get an erection. It can also negatively impact hormonal balance, which can make you less fertile. Fertility issues don’t just affect women: Recent research found that alcohol consumption has been linked to increased sperm DNA damage in men over age 30. Alcohol abuse has also been associated with a higher risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) and male infertility, according to research in the Asian Journal of Andrology. Young adults who binge drink frequently could be at risk for lowered testosterone levels and may become sterile as they age, according to a study published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Genetic Alterations Due to Alcohol Consumption

Despite what many believe, you don’t need to consume large amounts of alcohol over a long period for genetic damage to occur. Researchers from Japan discovered that drinking four pints (1.2 liters) of beer in one sitting could have serious genetic effects—even if consumed by an individual who does not have a history of alcohol abuse. After just one session with high levels of alcohol consumption, there was evidence that DNA was being altered and broken down; luckily, however, these changes were only temporary. But for regular binge drinkers over age 30? These effects are likely irreversible and should be cause for concern.

Increased Cancer Risk

It’s no secret that regular alcohol consumption comes with a higher risk for certain types of cancer. People who drink excessively over long periods are at a significantly greater risk for esophagus and liver cancers, while drinkers who also smoke are at an even higher risk. A 2012 study found that men who binge drink two or more times per week on average may be as much as 2.3 times more likely to develop liver cancer than those who consume less alcohol and have fewer instances of bing drinking. That’s particularly troubling considering that death from liver cancer has been rising since 2008, and increases in heavy drinking and binge drinking among younger Americans are likely partially to blame.