If you have only had a couple of drinks and are far from being legally intoxicated, it still probably is a good idea not to be driving a vehicle. Your driving can become impaired long before you reach the intoxication level.
All 50 states have passed laws that set the legal limit for driving while intoxicated at a blood alcohol concentration of .08. The problem is your ability to react and perform, — and therefore drive safely — can become affected long before you reach the level for legal intoxication.
Most people think they can drive after having a couple of drinks, but tests show that even small amounts of alcohol can affect you physically and your driving skills.
At the .02 BAC Level
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), these are the typical effects felt at the .02 BAC level, or after one drink for women and two drinks for men:
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It’s considered a rite of passage among young people – acting out their independence through heavy, episodic drinking. But a new University of Cincinnati study, the first of its kind nationally, is showing how binge drinking among adolescents and young adults could be causing serious damage to a brain that’s still under development at this age.
Researcher Tim McQueeny, a doctoral student in the UC Department of Psychology, is presenting the findings this week at the 34th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Atlanta.
Binge Drinking and the Brain
High-resolution brain scans on a sample of 29 weekend binge drinkers, aged 18 to 25, found that binge-drinking – consuming four or more drinks in one incident for females and five or more drinks for males – was linked to cortical-thinning of the pre-frontal cortex, the section of the brain related to executive functioning such as paying attention, planning and making decisions, processing emotions and controlling impulses leading to irrational behavior.
McQueeny examined the brain’s gray matter, the parts of brain cells that do the thinking, receiving and transmitting of messages. “We have seen evidence that binge drinking is associated with reduced integrity in the white matter, the brain’s highways that communicate neuron messaging, but alcohol may affect the gray matter differently than the white matter,” he says.
The pilot study examined whether the researchers could see a relationship between gray matter thickness and binge drinking among college-aged young adults. They found that greater number of drinks per binge is associated with cortical thinning. McQueeny is now interested in pursuing future research to examine whether binge drinking is affecting the brain’s gray matter and white matter differently, or if they’re both equally affected.
Brain Is Still Growing
“Alcohol might be neurotoxic to the neuron cells, or, since the brain is developing in one’s 20s, it could be interacting with developmental factors and possibly altering the ways in which the brain is still growing,” he says.
The findings affect a significant population. A publication from the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that 42 percent of young American adults between 18 and 25 have engaged in binge drinking.
McQueeny adds that the depressant effects of alcohol emerge later in life, so for young adults, the effect of alcohol can be very stimulating and activate tolerance over time.
“In the past, in terms of what’s known about the physical toll of alcohol, the focus on neurobiology has been in pathological populations and adult populations who were disproportionately male, so there was a significant gap in research in terms of when people started risky drinking. We’re looking at developmental aspects at an age when binge drinking rates are highest, and we’re also looking at gender effects,” says McQueeny. “There might actually be indications of early micro-structural damage without the onset of pathological symptoms such as abuse, or dependence on alcohol.”
Resonsible Drinking Suggested
McQueeny’s advisor, UC Psychology Professor Krista Lisdahl Medina, served as senior author on the paper. She adds, “Our preliminary evidence has found a correlation between increased abstinence of binge drinking and recovery of gray matter volume in the cerebellum. Additional research examining brain recovery with abstinence is needed.”
In terms of educating young adults about responsible drinking, Medina says there appear to be better efforts about communicating the dangers of drinking and driving. “However, people can still be doing damage to their brain as a result of the prevalence and acceptance of binge drinking. There is also evidence that drinking below the binge level may be less harmful,” she says.
The high-resolution imaging was conducted at UC’s Center for Imaging Research.
The research was supported by a $300,000 grant awarded to Medina’s lab by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. McQueeny was also awarded a University Research Council Summer Graduate Fellowship.
From Buddy T’s Blog: We have known for a long time that alcohol consumption at a level lower that the legal limit for being under the influence can impair a driver’s abilities. Now a massive study of fatal traffic crashes has found that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption for drivers.
Auto crashes produce more severe injuries even when drivers have only trace amounts of alcohol in their systems. Continue reading
From Buddy T’s Blog: “Relapse is so common in the alcohol and drug recovery process that it is estimated more than 90 percent of those trying to remain abstinent have at least one relapse before they achieve lasting sobriety. But a relapse, sometimes called a “slip,” doesn’t begin when you pick up a drink or a drug. It is a slow process that begins long before you actually use.
“The steps to a relapse are actually changes in attitudes, feelings and behaviors that gradually lead to the final step, picking up a drink or a drug.
“In 1982, researchers Terence T. Gorski and Merlene Miller identified a set of warning signs or steps that typically lead up to a relapse. Over the years, additional research has confirmed that the steps described in the Gorski and Miller study are “reliable and valid” predictors of alcohol and drug relapses.
If you are trying to obtain long-term sobriety and avoid having a relapse along the way, it is important to recognize the following warning signs and take action to keep them from progressing into a full-blown relapse.” Click here to read “Warning Signs of an Alcohol or Drug Relapse” on Buddy T’s Blog.