Heavy Drinking

Step away from the beer pong table! College binge drinking may leave you with more than just embarrassing memories and excruciating hangovers. In a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology , researchers found that four years of heavy drinking between the ages of 18 and 25 may be enough to permanently increase a person's risk of heart attack, stroke and atherosclerosis. Researchers at the University of Illinois recruited 38 nonsmoking young adults and split them into two groups: alcohol abstainers and binge drinkers.

SAN DIEGO - A military judge Thursday sentenced a female Marine convicted of attempted adultery and lying to investigators to a letter of reprimand and the loss of $3,000 in pay. Lt. Col. Leon Francis could have sentenced her to a year in the brig and a bad-conduct discharge. Francis, after a three-day court-martial at Camp Pendleton, ruled that she was guilty of attempted adultery with another staff sergeant - “a man not her husband.” Under military law, adultery is a crime if it undermines “good order and discipline” or brings “discredit upon the armed forces.” Testimony showed that the two staff sergeants, who worked together at Camp Pendleton, went to a motel in Temecula after an afternoon of heavy drinking.

The notion that the Irish--the real Irish--turn St. Patrick's Day on March 17 into a drunken orgy is pure blarney. That never was and never will be true, says Donal Patrick O'Sullivan of Costa Mesa, who looks like a leprechaun and talks in a thick Irish brogue. "Why, until recent years," O'Sullivan said, "pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick's Day and you couldn't legally buy a drink."

Step away from the beer pong table! College binge drinking may leave you with more than just embarrassing memories and excruciating hangovers. In a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology , researchers found that four years of heavy drinking between the ages of 18 and 25 may be enough to permanently increase a person's risk of heart attack, stroke and atherosclerosis. Researchers at the University of Illinois recruited 38 nonsmoking young adults and split them into two groups: alcohol abstainers and binge drinkers.

SAN DIEGO - A military judge Thursday sentenced a female Marine convicted of attempted adultery and lying to investigators to a letter of reprimand and the loss of $3,000 in pay. Lt. Col. Leon Francis could have sentenced her to a year in the brig and a bad-conduct discharge. Francis, after a three-day court-martial at Camp Pendleton, ruled that she was guilty of attempted adultery with another staff sergeant - “a man not her husband.” Under military law, adultery is a crime if it undermines “good order and discipline” or brings “discredit upon the armed forces.” Testimony showed that the two staff sergeants, who worked together at Camp Pendleton, went to a motel in Temecula after an afternoon of heavy drinking.

'Rock of Ages' MPAA rating: PG-13 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language Running time: 2 hour, 3 minutes Playing: In general release

Regarding "Many Genes Play Role in Alcoholism" [Nov. 15]: Instead of blaming our ancestors, let's take a good look at why heavy drinking is acceptable behavior. We are bombarded by alcohol images, messages and substances every day. Heavy drinking is an essential part of socializing and drowning our sorrow with booze is a common remedy for depression. While designing drugs to curb alcohol cravings is a significant and immediate treatment, it is more important to dissuade people from heavy drinking.

Kaz Deyna, a member of five Socker championship teams, had a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit when he crashed into a parked truck and died on Sept. 1, the San Diego County Coroner's Office said Tuesday. Deyna had a blood-alcohol level of .20%, said Max Murphy, the supervising deputy at the coroner's office. California law recognizes .10 as the legal limit.

About to uncork that bottle of merlot? A study finds that moderate drinking may decrease the risk of dementia and cognitive decline in older people. Researchers analyzed 143 studies that looked at the association between moderate alcohol consumption and mental abilities. The meta-analysis, published this month in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment , looked at research dating back to 1977. Studies done between 1977 and 1997 mostly focused on younger people ages 18 to 54 and for the most part sought to determine whether moderate drinking had any damaging effects; Overall it didn't, said Michael Collins, the study's co-author and professor in the department of molecular pharmacology and therapeutics at Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine . Later studies from 1998 to the present focused more on mental status tests examining memory and cognitive function among mostly older people, he added, and most showed that drinking moderate levels of alcohol showed no effect or a decreased risk of dementia and cognitive impairment compared to control groups.

Risking impeachment, Ohio's attorney general refused demands from the governor and other fellow Democrats that he resign over a sexual harassment scandal and an affair with a subordinate. Gov. Ted Strickland told reporters that Democrats would begin drafting an impeachment resolution against Atty. Gen. Marc Dann right away. Republican House Speaker Jon Husted said that his chamber was reviewing the process. A probe uncovered inappropriate staff-subordinate relationships, heavy drinking, and harassing and threatening behavior by a supervisor.

Here's something to ponder if and when you and your spouse make your Valentine's Day toasts this year: when it comes to drinking - as in so many other facets of marriage - compatibility may be key to keeping couples together. Researchers reviewing data collected from 19,977 married couples in one county in Norway reported that spouses who consume about the same amount of alcohol were less likely to divorce than pairs where one partner is a heavy drinker and the other is not - especially when the wife is the one doing the drinking.

'Rock of Ages' MPAA rating: PG-13 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language Running time: 2 hour, 3 minutes Playing: In general release

Regis Philbin is saying goodbye to "Live! with Regis and Kelly" this week. While we're not sure the 80-year-old will immediately segue into full Barcalounger-style retirement, he should know there are some health risks and benefits that go along with leaving the working world. Reeg may find he has more energy. Researchers looked at health data on 11,246 men and 2,858 women for seven years before and seven years after retirement for a 2010 study in the British Medical Journal . Retirement was linked with a significant drop in mental fatigue and physical fatigue as well as symptoms of depression.

About to uncork that bottle of merlot? A study finds that moderate drinking may decrease the risk of dementia and cognitive decline in older people. Researchers analyzed 143 studies that looked at the association between moderate alcohol consumption and mental abilities. The meta-analysis, published this month in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment , looked at research dating back to 1977. Studies done between 1977 and 1997 mostly focused on younger people ages 18 to 54 and for the most part sought to determine whether moderate drinking had any damaging effects; Overall it didn't, said Michael Collins, the study's co-author and professor in the department of molecular pharmacology and therapeutics at Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine . Later studies from 1998 to the present focused more on mental status tests examining memory and cognitive function among mostly older people, he added, and most showed that drinking moderate levels of alcohol showed no effect or a decreased risk of dementia and cognitive impairment compared to control groups.

Would you want your surgeon to party hearty the night before you went under his scalpel? Probably not. Yet there are no rules on the amount of alcohol a surgeon may (or may  not) consume on the eve of a day in the operating room. This despite the fact that 42% of healthcare workers acknowledged having a hangover at work, according to a 1993 study. And among doctors, surgeons are known to have a particular fondness for drinking, according to some other studies and the casual observations of many physicians.

An Army paratrooper was found guilty today of involuntary manslaughter for choking to death a fellow soldier during an hour-long struggle to bring the unruly soldier back to base after a night of heavy drinking. A military jury is expected to impose a sentence tonight. Sgt. Justin A. Boyle, 28, who joined the Army after the 9/11 attacks and deployed four times to Iraq and Afghanistan, faces as many as 10 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. Private First Class Luke Brown, 27, died after he led fellow soldiers in his intelligence unit on a wild chase through dense woods after a night of drinking at the Ugly Stick Saloon in nearby Fayetteville.

Moderate consumption of alcohol may reduce the risk of suffering one type of stroke while heavy drinking may greatly increase the chances of suffering another kind, cardiologists at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland reported last week in the journal Stroke.

The U.S. military still has a serious problem with alcohol abuse, although it has declined, and significant progress has been made in curtailing drug abuse and smoking, according to a study conducted for the Pentagon. The study found that about 15% of active military personnel are considered "heavy drinkers," defined as having more than five drinks on one occasion at least once a week. That figure is down from 22% in 1980.

Whether the legal drinking age is 18, 21 or something in between, at some point the odds are better than even that eventually a young adult is going to have that first drink. About 61% of American adults 18 or older said they've had alcohol in the last year, according to a 2006 national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the most part, lessons in how to drink come through experimentation with excess, essentially trial and error, exploring how much can be consumed, as young people go through what has become a rite of passage to adulthood.

Risking impeachment, Ohio's attorney general refused demands from the governor and other fellow Democrats that he resign over a sexual harassment scandal and an affair with a subordinate. Gov. Ted Strickland told reporters that Democrats would begin drafting an impeachment resolution against Atty. Gen. Marc Dann right away. Republican House Speaker Jon Husted said that his chamber was reviewing the process. A probe uncovered inappropriate staff-subordinate relationships, heavy drinking, and harassing and threatening behavior by a supervisor.