From: unk...@googlegroups.com   
      
   May 15, 2014   
      
   Single episode of binge drinking can adversely affect health, study says   
      
      
   It only takes one time. That's the message of a new study by scientists at the   
   University of Massachusetts Medical School on binge drinking. Their research   
   found that a single episode of binge drinking can have significant negative   
   health effects    
   resulting in bacteria leaking from the gut, leading to increased levels of   
   toxins in the blood. Published online in PLOS ONE, the study showed that these   
   bacterial toxins, called endotoxins, caused the body to produce immune cells   
   involved in fever,    
   inflammation, and tissue destruction.   
      
   "We found that a single alcohol binge can elicit an immune response,   
   potentially impacting the health of an otherwise healthy individual," said   
   lead author Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, vice chair of the   
   Department of Medicine and    
   associate dean for clinical and translational sciences at UMMS. "Our   
   observations suggest that an alcohol binge is more dangerous than previously   
   thought."   
      
   Binge drinking is defined by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and   
   Alcoholism (NIAAA) as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol   
   concentration (BAC) to 0.08g/dL or above. For a typical adult, this   
   corresponds with consuming five or more    
   drinks for men, or four or more drinks for women, in about two hours,   
   depending on body weight.   
      
   Binge drinking is known to pose safety risks associated with car crashes and   
   injuries. Over the long term, binge drinking can damage the liver and other   
   organs, but this is key evidence that a single alcohol binge can cause   
   damaging health effects such    
   as bacterial leakage from the gut into the blood stream, according to a   
   statement released by George Koob, PhD, director of the NIAAA.   
   To assess the impact of binge drinking, 11 men and 14 women were given enough   
   alcohol to raise their blood alcohol levels to at least .08 g/dL within an   
   hour. Blood samples were then taken every 30 minutes for four hours after and   
   again 24 hours later.   
      
   Szabo and colleagues found that the alcohol binge resulted in a rapid increase   
   in endotoxin levels in the blood. Endotoxins are toxins contained in the cell   
   wall of certain bacteria that are released when the cell is destroyed. They   
   also found evidence    
   of bacterial DNA in the bloodstream, showing that bacteria had permeated the   
   gut. Compared to men, women had higher blood alcohol levels and circulating   
   endotoxin levels.   
      
   Earlier studies have tied chronic alcohol use to increased gut permeability,   
   wherein potentially harmful products can travel through the intestinal wall   
   and be carried to other parts of the body. Greater gut permeability and   
   increased endotoxin levels    
   have been linked to many of the health issues related to chronic drinking,   
   including alcoholic liver disease.   
       
   Explore further: Why binge drinkers are slower to heal from their wounds   
   Journal reference: PLoS ONE     
   Provided by University of Massachusetts Medical School    
      
      
   http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-episode-binge-adversely-af   
   ect-health.html#nRlv   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)