Drinking on weekends may indicate compulsive alcohol consumption, study finds

Do you consider yourself someone who consumes alcohol to a light to moderate degree, having an occasional cocktail or glass of wine at dinner and just drinking a few extra glasses of beer at social gatherings on the weekends.

By most standards you would be right – because alcohol consumption is typically taken as an average over the week.

“This makes many people wrongly assume that an average moderate level of consumption is safe, regardless of pattern,” said Rudolf Moos, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Moos is the co-author of a recent study that found that many moderate drinkers over the age of 30 end up binge drinking on the weekend – defined as five or more drinks in a row in a short period of time.

People who drink compulsively are about five times more likely to experience various problems with alcohol, such as “hurting themselves, emotional or psychological problems from alcohol, having to use more alcohol to get the same effect, and experiencing the effects of alcohol on their own.” work or school,” said another study co-author, Charles Holahan, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

“What this means is that an individual whose total consumption is seven drinks on Saturday night has a higher risk profile than someone whose total consumption is one drink a day at dinner, even though their average consumption level is the same ”, says Holahan.

compulsive consumption

Most previous research on binge drinking has focused on the younger generation, usually teenagers and college students. Consuming several drinks at once is common in this segment of the population.

But statistics show that many adults over 30 are binge drinking, and the problem is on the rise, especially among women and adults over 65.

However, levels of binge drinking among adults can escape “public health scrutiny because it occurs among individuals who drink at a moderate level,” Holahan said. “Currently, binge drinking among moderates is undetected in primary care settings.”

Women are especially sensitive to the effects of alcohol, according to the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA). Alcohol-related problems appear earlier and at lower levels of consumption than in men, the NIAA said.

They are more susceptible to alcohol-related brain damage and heart disease than men, and studies show that women who have one drink a day increase their risk of breast cancer by 5% to 9% compared to women who abstain.

For men and women over 65, the increase “is particularly concerning because many older adults use medications that can interact with alcohol, have health problems that can be exacerbated by alcohol, and may be more susceptible to alcohol-related injuries.” stated the NIAA.

A ‘forgotten’ pattern

The new study, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, used research data collected as part of the “U.S. Midlife Development” study, which has followed a national sample of Americans ages 25 to 74 since 1995.

The study looked at nearly 1,300 people who consumed alcohol over nine years and found that most cases of binge drinking occurred among individuals who drank moderately on average.

“Someone who drinks moderately, say, one drink a day, can hit that average with one drink a day with dinner or seven drinks a day on Saturday night,” Holahan said.

While this behavior doesn’t necessarily lead to alcoholism, Holahan says, the study found that drinking an average of more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men — or five or more drinks on the same occasion — is related to alcohol problems. alcohol nine years later.

“These findings point to the need for alcohol interventions in addition to conventional strategies focused on the highest-risk but lowest population of high-profile habitual drinkers,” Holahan said.

Is your drinking a problem?

How do you know if your alcohol consumption has become a problem? A telltale sign is when drinking is starting to interfere with your ability to go about your daily routine, experts say.

“The disorder is defined as the compulsive use of alcohol, with negative consequences of its use, such as impacting your relationships, your ability to function at your job, or in any role you have in your community,” said Dr. Sarah Wakeman to CNN in a previous interview.

Be cautious if you continue drinking despite the negative impacts on your physical or mental health. And it doesn’t necessarily mean getting sick or having a hangover, he told the CNN previously Dr. Leena Mittal, head of the mental health division of the department of psychiatry at a hospital in Boston.

“Don’t forget about relationships. Are you having more disagreements? Are the people in your life expressing concern or noticing that you are different? Hiding your drink or lying about it are also worrying behaviors,” Mittal said.

Here’s a warning: you’re consuming large doses without realizing it. Current American Heart Association guidelines recommend no more than two standard servings a day for men and one for women, and for anyone age 65 and older.

What is a standard dose? It’s 350ml of regular beer, 120ml of regular wine or 145ml of liqueur, according to US standards.

“Still, people can be pouring a huge glass of wine and not realize it’s actually two or three shots,” Wakeman said.

“We know that millions of Americans drink above these levels, even in pre-pandemic times,” Wakeman said. “In 2019, about 66 million Americans had episodes where they drank more than recommended limits.”