Social Smoking Affects Your Blood and Binge Drinking Affects Bone Health
Spooky News on Smoke, Booze, Blood, and Bones
You all know that I am a firm believer in moderation, but I do also know that everyone occasionally takes moderation in moderation and has a wild night. Once again, I nominate myself to play the role of party-pooper and tell you social smoking and binge drinking are really bad for you, and not just for your brain cells and lungs. Partying too hard and smoking socially can harm your bones and your blood.
Simply put, binge drinking makes for brittle bones. Alcohol interferes with the body's calcium supply, and in cases of excessive drinking, can create alcohol-induced bone loss. Add to the brittle bones the higher incidence of falling when inebriated and your chances for breaking a bone increase. New research from Loyola's Alcohol Research Program shows the exposure to alcohol disrupts the way genes work to maintain "bone integrity." This happens with prolonged drinking, but also in shorter, three-day bouts of "binge drinking," which was defined as four drinks in two hours for women and five drinks in the same time period for men.
To see what smoking socially does to you, just read more.
Having just one or two cigarettes over the course of a weekend affects your arteries and they begin to function more slowly. A decline in arterial health is an early risk factor for heart disease. The decrease in function lasts for more than just a couple of days and may continue well on for a week. A recent study at the University of Georgia found that two cigarettes can reduce the rate that blood flows through the arteries by 24 percent in healthy, young adults. For me, the take-home message is don't light up at all, even with your friends.
