"The Ronan Report" provides insight about the activities at the Western Maryland Health System in Cumberland, Maryland, and about the changes taking place in healthcare today from a CEO's perspective.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Binge Drinking

I saw a factoid the other day revealing that 38 million Americans binge drink at least 4 times a month.  Wow!  I thought it would be high, but 38 million.  Binge drinking is defined as a man drinking at least 5 drinks in 2 hours or a women drinking 4 drinks during the same period with both exceeding a blood alcohol level of 0.08%.  That's a lot of college students.  Actually, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 70% of binge drinkers are over the age of 25.  Now for the even scarier part; the health risks associated with binge drinking include: unintentional injuries, intentional injuries, alcohol poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, liver disease, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, sexual dysfunction and neurological damage, just to name a few.  Makes you want to swear off alcohol consumption altogether or, at a minimum, to drink in moderation.  Sobering to say the least.

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