2,000 die a year from binge drinking: 4 things to know

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

1. How many drinks does it take to binge?

Binge drinking is defined as “a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration levels to .08,” the legal limit, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

To get to that level a woman usually has to consume four drinks in two hours and a man would need to have five drinks in the same amount of time, according to the NIAAA.

2. What exactly is considered one drink?

A standard drink in the United States is considered a beverage that contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol, according to the NIAAA.

That amount of alcohol is typically found in the following:

• A 12-ounce beer with 5 percent alcohol content

• A five ounce glass of wine with 12 percent alcohol content

• A shot of liquor with 40 percent alcohol content

3. How to spot alcohol poisoning

Thousands of college students are taken to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning every year. Alcohol poisoning occurs when the body struggles to rid itself of the toxins produced by alcohol, according to the NIAAA.

Below are the symptoms of alcohol poisoning:

• Confusion

• Vomiting

• Slowed or irregular breathing

• Hypothermia and blush or pale skin

4. It’s linked to thousands of assaults and deaths a year

Binge drinking can have harmful effects and research has linked it to nearly 2,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands of assaults and almost 100,000 sexual assaults a year, according to the NIAAA.

Below are the stats on harmful effects of binge drinking for people between the age of 18 and 24:

• 1,825 deaths a year

• 696,000 assaults a year

• 97,000 sexual assaults a year

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