summary: A new study calls into question the belief that heavy drinkers can ‘tolerate their booze’ better than light drinkers, revealing that this permissive perception can lead to risky decisions. .
The study showed that heavy drinkers felt less impaired than light drinkers after consuming the same amount of alcohol. However, when consuming amounts close to normal patterns, heavy drinkers showed significant impairments.
Interestingly, despite similar levels of impairment to light drinkers, heavy drinkers typically found themselves less affected, which could lead to risky decision-making. rice field.
Important facts:
- The study looked at data from 400 adolescents with varying drinking patterns and found that heavy drinkers perceived less disability than light drinkers after consuming the same amount of alcohol. I was.
- When participants with alcohol use disorders consumed higher doses of alcohol (close to their normal drinking pattern), they had greater impairments in working memory and fine motor skills than light drinkers.
- Despite similar levels of disability, heavy drinkers perceived themselves to have less disability, a misconception that can lead to risky decision making.
sauce: Alcoholism Study Group
People with a pattern of heavy drinking were shown to have fewer impairments than light drinkers after drinking the same amount of alcohol. However, this difference is highly dependent on the time elapsed after drinking and may only become apparent in moderate intoxication.
Research published in Alcohol: clinical and experimental studies It has been found that people who exceed the typical amount of alcohol intake have significant impairments. And if heavy drinkers and light drinkers are similarly impaired, heavy drinkers perceive themselves to be less impaired, which can lead to risky decisions.
This study tested the commonly held hypothesis that people who regularly drink excessively have a better ability to ‘hold their booze’ than those who don’t drink as much. Researchers examined data from the Chicago Social Drinking Project (CSDP), a placebo-controlled laboratory study of acute reactions to alcohol.
The 400 young people were classified as light drinkers, heavy social drinkers, or alcohol use disorders based on their drinking patterns.
On average, light drinkers drank three drinks per week, about a quarter of the time.
Social heavy drinkers tended to drink nearly 20 drinks per week and about half the days of the month. On average, people with alcohol use disorders drink nearly 40 drinks a week and 3 out of 4 days a month.
Participants were given a specific dose of alcohol and tested for breath alcohol content and fine motor performance and short-term memory 30 minutes, 2 hours, and 3 hours after drinking.
When consuming amounts of alcohol equivalent to a binge-eating episode (4 or more in women and 5 or more in men), heavy drinkers showed higher tolerance than light drinkers, and improved fine motor skills and performance. It performed better on tests of working memory. Not only did they recover faster, they also reported less depression than the light drinkers.
However, when participants with alcohol use disorders drank very high doses of alcohol that more closely resembled their normal drinking patterns, significant impairments in working memory and fine motor skills were seen, significantly worse than in heavy drinkers and light drinkers. It was noticeable.
Moreover, in the first 30 minutes after drinking, the light and heavy drinkers all showed impairment, whereas the heavy drinker and alcohol use disorder groups perceived themselves as less impaired. was
This false perception of disability can lead to increased drinking and risky decision making.
Other research suggests that people who drink excessively on a regular basis learn how to deal with the negative effects of alcohol. However, this study suggests that tolerance may be eroded by large amounts of alcohol, which is common among drinkers with alcohol use disorders.
The authors point out that the study cannot be interpreted to suggest that habitual drinking causes the development of tolerance.
About this Australian Dollar and Perceptions Survey news
author: Andrea King
sauce: Alcoholism Study Group
contact: Andrea King – Alcoholism Research Society
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Findings are displayed below Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Studies
