teenage drinking

Alcohol Stunting Normal Brain Development in Adolescents

Posted on by azalcrehabctr

The legal drinking age in the United States is 21-years-old. This can seem to be a very odd number to some people, but there are reasons behind why drinking before the age of 21 is dangerous to one’s health. By the time a person is 18 they have likely stopped growing, they are considered an adult, they can vote, drive, move out or drop out of school if they want. But they cannot legally buy or consume alcohol. This is because their brains have not finished developing until they are in their twenties. Of course, adolescents and teenagers often find ways around the age barrier, researchers from Finland have released a study showing just how damaging alcohol is to developing brains.

“The maturation of the brain is still ongoing in adolescence, and especially the frontal areas and the cingulate cortex develop until the twenties. Our findings strongly indicate that heavy alcohol use may disrupt this maturation process,” explained Noora Heikinen, author of the study.

Certain areas of the brain are responsible for certain things. There is an area devoted to hormone regulation, an area that only deals with speech. And there is an area of the brain that is responsible for impulse control. This area is called the cingulate cortex. When adolescents or teenagers consume heavy amounts of alcohol before their brain stops developing, they are damaging this part of the brain.

A malfunctioning, or inhibited cingulate cortex may lead to increasing one’s chances of developing an alcohol dependency later on in life. This is explained by MRIs that were taken in the study.

Researchers took images of groups of people who were between the ages of 13 and 18. One group admitted to heavy consumption of alcohol, while the other group abstained from alcohol. Those that consumed a lot of alcohol had a smaller volume of cingulate cortex.

Researchers also found that alcohol also seems to reduce the volume of gray matter in the insula. This would account for a decreased sensitivity to the negative consequences of alcohol. Hangovers or personal problems due to alcohol use may not resonate heavily with these type of people, also increasing the likelihood of alcohol abuse in the future.

High School Remains Tough Against Underage Drinking

Posted on by azalcrehabctr

Many people are trying to do their part when it comes to preventing underage drinking. It is a growing problem that is affecting our youth all over the country. In fact, alcohol is the most commonly abused drug by teenagers in the United States. While many teenagers do not feel that drinking is very dangerous, they may be surprised to know that 4,300 of their peers die every year from alcohol-related causes. To combat these alarming statistics, some high schools are enforcing strict abstinence policies.

One school in Illinois, Glenbard High School, pledged to suspend anyone caught attending a party where alcohol is being served. So far the school has suspended thirty student athletes after they attended a party where alcohol was present. The rule is so strict that even if the teens didn’t consume alcohol themselves, they were still suspended because they were at a party with alcohol. Some parents and many of the students are upset with this new policy.

On Monday, the school board heard from many parents and students that wanted the rule changed. One student suggested that those who did not drink should be allowed at the party because they could help influence students that were drinking to put down their beverages and stop consuming alcohol. The board acknowledged that students who do not drink can be a good influence on their peers, however a party where alcohol is being served is not the place to try to enforce that good influence.

Despite the arguments from students and parents opposed to the new drinking policy, the school remained firm in its decision to punish anyone caught at a party that included alcohol. Alcohol and temptation surrounds every high school student, and sometimes facing a significant punishment is the only thing that prevents them from succumbing to the pressure.