Teenage binge drinkers 'can damage their memory for years', warn doctors

It is thought that drinking to excess interferes with a critical stage in development of the brain - and that the problem may get worse with age.

Researcher Thomas Heffernan said: "There is evidence that excess alcohol and binge drinking in particular damages parts of the brain that underpin everyday memory.

"Not only may these teenagers be harming their memory, if their brains are still developing they could be storing up problems for the future."

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Dr Heffernan, a Northumbria University psychologist, looked at the effect of alcohol on memory in 60 youngsters aged 16 to 19.

Around half were effectively binge alcoholics, drinking an average of 30 units on two nights out - the equivalent of a bottle of spirits - while the others drank rarely or never.

The teenagers, who all went to college or university in the North-East of England, were asked how often they had forgotten things they planned or needed to do, such as locking the door, meeting a friend or posting a letter.

They were also asked to play a computer game which required them to remember and complete tasks as they walked along a fictional high street, as a more objective measure of memory loss.

The binge drinkers did significantly worse at the game, completing up to a third fewer tasks properly, the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Dublin heard.

Dr Heffernan said drinkers are unaware of the harm they may be doing to their brain.

"It seems to me they are not aware of the memory deficits that binge drinking is causing," he said.

A culture of cheap, readily available drink and acceptance of drinking was making matters worse, he warned.

"The liberalisation of drinking and access to cheap booze does nothing to help curb the problem of binge drinking," he said.

Further research could study what impact binge drink might have on cognition in younger teenagers, since binge drinking appears to be on the increase in even younger people.

More than 4,000 under-14s have been admitted to hospital over the past three years because they drank too much.

Doctors have warned that children of 12 are being diagnosed as alcoholics and that cirrhosis of the liver - an alcohol-induced problem usually found in older adults - is being diagnosed in teenagers.

The statistics may only hint at the true scale of the problem, with alcohol at the root of many fights and unplanned pregnancies and linked to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.