Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Survey: Binge Drinking On Rise Year-Round

Aired January 01, 2003 - 08:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, lots of people rang in the New Year last night with a few drinks. None of us here,...
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We were good.

HARRIS: ... but a lot of folks out there did. A new survey finds that binge drinking all year-round is soaring now in the U.S., especially among 18 and 20 year olds.

Our medical correspondent Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is filling in for Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning, and she joins us from Atlanta with more on this disturbing trend and hopefully some good news for those of you that might be suffering this morning.

Happy New Year to you -- Doc.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Same to you -- Leon.

HARRIS: First of all, explain to us what do you think is happening with this trend that we just talked about here?

FRYHOFER: Well, it seems that the -- there are more Americans are doing this binge drinking. And let me explain what that is. This may bring back memories for many people who celebrated last night. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks at one setting.

And, as you said, this new study published today in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" focused on binge drinking in Americans and it's on the rise. These researchers at the CDC showed that from 1993 to 2001 there was a 17 percent increase in binge drinking among adults, but even more concerning, a 56 percent increase in the underage drinkers, the kids age 18 to 20. Very concerning here. Also, most of the drinking occurred, the bingeing occurred in men. Another bad -- and more bad news, binge drinkers were 14 times more likely to drive under the influence as compared to non-binge drinkers.

HARRIS: You know what, I have to say that those last two stats really don't surprise too much. I'm not really surprised to hear that. Is there any research as to what they thought (ph), what people -- the experts think might be behind this surge now amongst the youth or what? FRYHOFER: Well, no, they don't know that yet. We just know that it exists, but certainly we need to probably try to attack this just like we're trying to get kids to -- not to smoke.

Another thing that was sort of surprising to me is you know you think about binge drinking, oh it must be the alcoholics, but 73 percent, almost three-fourths of the binge drinkers were otherwise moderate drinkers. And they defined moderate drinking different from men and women. For men, that was a max on average of two drinks per day and for women, a max on average of one drink per day. So this is -- we're talking about a lot of people here.

HARRIS: Yes, and you know what, I've got to think that holidays, like well New Year's Day and New Year's Eve particularly, has got to be one of the reasons why people who would ordinarily be rather moderate in their drinking would go overboard. And let's talk about that now because I know a lot of folks may be just now awake, but some of them might not be even awake yet at this particular hour if they've been out...

FRYHOFER: That's true.

HARRIS: ... and had a heavy night celebrating. First of all, you know what I'd like to know, what is it that goes on inside your head to even give you a hangover?

FRYHOFER: Well, there are many theories, but believe it or not, you know you've heard that some alcohol is worse than other for causing a hangover?

HARRIS: Yes.

FRYHOFER: There's actually some hard science there. It's true. The darker liquors, the whiskey, the tequila, contain more alcohol by- products called congeners. And the more congeners you have in the alcohol, the more likely you are to have a hangover. Whereas the lighter liquids, the gin -- liquors, the gin and the vodka, contain fewer of these congeners so you're less likely to have a hangover. So it's not just how much you drink, but what you drink that can cause that hangover.

But I'll tell you a good recipe for one, if you've had -- if you had five to seven cocktails last night, you're not feeling good this morning.

HARRIS: And that doesn't matter whether it was a clear one or if it was one of the other?

FRYHOFER: No matter what.

HARRIS: Yes.

FRYHOFER: No matter what.

HARRIS: OK. And of course you don't want to give people the impression that you can go ahead and drink more of the clear ones and get away with it, right?

FRYHOFER: That's true. That's true -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right. So what do you do if you do get a hangover? Now I've heard different -- I've talked to Dr. Gupta about this from time to time. Just for my friends...

FRYHOFER: I wonder where Dr. Gupta is this morning?

HARRIS: But we -- yes, but we were talking about it be -- for us, it was for our friends that we were talking about this kind of thing.

KAGAN: Yes.

FRYHOFER: OK, that's right. All right.

HARRIS: And he says it's all -- and what happens is it's all dehydration and that -- and to rehydrate yourself is the key here, is that right?

FRYHOFER: Well there are several things that can make the hangover more severe. Dehydration is one. Also, lack of food and lack of sleep. And if you think about it, there are probably a lot of people who went out for New Year's last night tired from shopping for the holidays, so there are probably a lot of heavy hangovers this morning.

And you know if you look at the Internet, you can get a real chuckle at some of these old wives tales about curing hangovers. And I think we've got a list of some old wives tales for you that we can take a look at.

Drink coffee. Well, I think that's fine. Remember we said that dehydration makes it worse, so fluids are very important and certainly can help. But if you like the coffee, go for it. Coffee is not something you're used to drinking, try something else.

HARRIS: I just see coffee. Coffee just makes you a jittery drunk, that's about all I've seen.

FRYHOFER: Well, how do you know -- Leon?

HARRIS: OK. But again, that's with my friends.

FRYHOFER: We're not going to go there are we?

HARRIS: That's with my friends, not with me. We'll see the rest of the list here.

FRYHOFER: All right. The greasy foods are next. And you do need to eat, but I'm not sure greasy foods are the -- are the answer. Maybe that's to make you really regret that you did it in the first place.

Sweets, again, no science there. You can try it. Just eat something.

But the last one, the "Hair of the Dog," I think that's supposed to be another drink.

HARRIS: Yes, I've heard of that one.

FRYHOFER: Don't go there. Don't go there. Definitely don't try that or else you may end up being one of the 100,000 people who dies each year of alcohol abuse.

HARRIS: OK.

FRYHOFER: But on a more lighter note, we do have some practical things we can tell you to do for hangovers. And we've got a list of those, too. Certainly hydration is important. Fluids, as many as you can get.

There actually was a study in the "Annals of Internal Medicine," this is hard medical data, not personal experience, that Vitamin B6 can help. They took very large doses. A total of 1,200 milligrams of Vitamin B6, 400 milligrams before the party, 400 milligrams in the middle of the party and then 400 milligrams after the party. But I want to warn you that that's a super high dose. You don't want to do that on a routine basis because in general doses on a daily basis of over 250 milligrams can cause nerve damage, so not something to try regularly.

Also, some people try Advil, Ibuprofen, those kinds of things, the anti-inflammatories. In this study they found that one of the anti-inflammatories, Tolfenamic Acid, worked. However, it's not commercially available. If you do try Advil or aspirin, understand that it can eat up the lining of your stomach, especially when combined with alcohol. So you might feel better from your hangover, but you may have a sore stomach and you could end up getting an ulcer.

HARRIS: But that's better than using Tylenol, which would do something to your liver. In fact, that one actually being toxic.

FRYHOFER: Well it -- yes, it can -- it can -- right.

HARRIS: I'm not...

FRYHOFER: But happy New Year to everyone, and I hope everyone feels better.

HARRIS: That's good advice.

FRYHOFER: And is not having a hangover.

HARRIS: There you go. I'm with you on that one.

Dr, Sandra Fryhofer, thank you for the advice and happy New Year to you.

FRYHOFER: Thanks -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, take care. And got to say it, the greasy food and the "Hair of the Dog," I have tried that before.

KAGAN: And?

HARRIS: Works for me. That and pizza.

KAGAN: All the years I lived in Arizona and people swore by menudo (ph), the Mexican food...

HARRIS: Oh God, I've seen that stuff.

KAGAN: ... that's made from the lining of a stomach cow (ph). I think it's because it's just like oh I'm eating a menudo so you...

HARRIS: Yes, but that's some...

KAGAN: ... forget about the hangover.

HARRIS: Yes, but it looks the same way coming in as it does coming out now. I don't know about that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 1, 2003 - 08:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, lots of people rang in the New Year last night with a few drinks. None of us here,...
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We were good.

HARRIS: ... but a lot of folks out there did. A new survey finds that binge drinking all year-round is soaring now in the U.S., especially among 18 and 20 year olds.

Our medical correspondent Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is filling in for Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning, and she joins us from Atlanta with more on this disturbing trend and hopefully some good news for those of you that might be suffering this morning.

Happy New Year to you -- Doc.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Same to you -- Leon.

HARRIS: First of all, explain to us what do you think is happening with this trend that we just talked about here?

FRYHOFER: Well, it seems that the -- there are more Americans are doing this binge drinking. And let me explain what that is. This may bring back memories for many people who celebrated last night. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks at one setting.

And, as you said, this new study published today in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" focused on binge drinking in Americans and it's on the rise. These researchers at the CDC showed that from 1993 to 2001 there was a 17 percent increase in binge drinking among adults, but even more concerning, a 56 percent increase in the underage drinkers, the kids age 18 to 20. Very concerning here. Also, most of the drinking occurred, the bingeing occurred in men. Another bad -- and more bad news, binge drinkers were 14 times more likely to drive under the influence as compared to non-binge drinkers.

HARRIS: You know what, I have to say that those last two stats really don't surprise too much. I'm not really surprised to hear that. Is there any research as to what they thought (ph), what people -- the experts think might be behind this surge now amongst the youth or what? FRYHOFER: Well, no, they don't know that yet. We just know that it exists, but certainly we need to probably try to attack this just like we're trying to get kids to -- not to smoke.

Another thing that was sort of surprising to me is you know you think about binge drinking, oh it must be the alcoholics, but 73 percent, almost three-fourths of the binge drinkers were otherwise moderate drinkers. And they defined moderate drinking different from men and women. For men, that was a max on average of two drinks per day and for women, a max on average of one drink per day. So this is -- we're talking about a lot of people here.

HARRIS: Yes, and you know what, I've got to think that holidays, like well New Year's Day and New Year's Eve particularly, has got to be one of the reasons why people who would ordinarily be rather moderate in their drinking would go overboard. And let's talk about that now because I know a lot of folks may be just now awake, but some of them might not be even awake yet at this particular hour if they've been out...

FRYHOFER: That's true.

HARRIS: ... and had a heavy night celebrating. First of all, you know what I'd like to know, what is it that goes on inside your head to even give you a hangover?

FRYHOFER: Well, there are many theories, but believe it or not, you know you've heard that some alcohol is worse than other for causing a hangover?

HARRIS: Yes.

FRYHOFER: There's actually some hard science there. It's true. The darker liquors, the whiskey, the tequila, contain more alcohol by- products called congeners. And the more congeners you have in the alcohol, the more likely you are to have a hangover. Whereas the lighter liquids, the gin -- liquors, the gin and the vodka, contain fewer of these congeners so you're less likely to have a hangover. So it's not just how much you drink, but what you drink that can cause that hangover.

But I'll tell you a good recipe for one, if you've had -- if you had five to seven cocktails last night, you're not feeling good this morning.

HARRIS: And that doesn't matter whether it was a clear one or if it was one of the other?

FRYHOFER: No matter what.

HARRIS: Yes.

FRYHOFER: No matter what.

HARRIS: OK. And of course you don't want to give people the impression that you can go ahead and drink more of the clear ones and get away with it, right?

FRYHOFER: That's true. That's true -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right. So what do you do if you do get a hangover? Now I've heard different -- I've talked to Dr. Gupta about this from time to time. Just for my friends...

FRYHOFER: I wonder where Dr. Gupta is this morning?

HARRIS: But we -- yes, but we were talking about it be -- for us, it was for our friends that we were talking about this kind of thing.

KAGAN: Yes.

FRYHOFER: OK, that's right. All right.

HARRIS: And he says it's all -- and what happens is it's all dehydration and that -- and to rehydrate yourself is the key here, is that right?

FRYHOFER: Well there are several things that can make the hangover more severe. Dehydration is one. Also, lack of food and lack of sleep. And if you think about it, there are probably a lot of people who went out for New Year's last night tired from shopping for the holidays, so there are probably a lot of heavy hangovers this morning.

And you know if you look at the Internet, you can get a real chuckle at some of these old wives tales about curing hangovers. And I think we've got a list of some old wives tales for you that we can take a look at.

Drink coffee. Well, I think that's fine. Remember we said that dehydration makes it worse, so fluids are very important and certainly can help. But if you like the coffee, go for it. Coffee is not something you're used to drinking, try something else.

HARRIS: I just see coffee. Coffee just makes you a jittery drunk, that's about all I've seen.

FRYHOFER: Well, how do you know -- Leon?

HARRIS: OK. But again, that's with my friends.

FRYHOFER: We're not going to go there are we?

HARRIS: That's with my friends, not with me. We'll see the rest of the list here.

FRYHOFER: All right. The greasy foods are next. And you do need to eat, but I'm not sure greasy foods are the -- are the answer. Maybe that's to make you really regret that you did it in the first place.

Sweets, again, no science there. You can try it. Just eat something.

But the last one, the "Hair of the Dog," I think that's supposed to be another drink.

HARRIS: Yes, I've heard of that one.

FRYHOFER: Don't go there. Don't go there. Definitely don't try that or else you may end up being one of the 100,000 people who dies each year of alcohol abuse.

HARRIS: OK.

FRYHOFER: But on a more lighter note, we do have some practical things we can tell you to do for hangovers. And we've got a list of those, too. Certainly hydration is important. Fluids, as many as you can get.

There actually was a study in the "Annals of Internal Medicine," this is hard medical data, not personal experience, that Vitamin B6 can help. They took very large doses. A total of 1,200 milligrams of Vitamin B6, 400 milligrams before the party, 400 milligrams in the middle of the party and then 400 milligrams after the party. But I want to warn you that that's a super high dose. You don't want to do that on a routine basis because in general doses on a daily basis of over 250 milligrams can cause nerve damage, so not something to try regularly.

Also, some people try Advil, Ibuprofen, those kinds of things, the anti-inflammatories. In this study they found that one of the anti-inflammatories, Tolfenamic Acid, worked. However, it's not commercially available. If you do try Advil or aspirin, understand that it can eat up the lining of your stomach, especially when combined with alcohol. So you might feel better from your hangover, but you may have a sore stomach and you could end up getting an ulcer.

HARRIS: But that's better than using Tylenol, which would do something to your liver. In fact, that one actually being toxic.

FRYHOFER: Well it -- yes, it can -- it can -- right.

HARRIS: I'm not...

FRYHOFER: But happy New Year to everyone, and I hope everyone feels better.

HARRIS: That's good advice.

FRYHOFER: And is not having a hangover.

HARRIS: There you go. I'm with you on that one.

Dr, Sandra Fryhofer, thank you for the advice and happy New Year to you.

FRYHOFER: Thanks -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, take care. And got to say it, the greasy food and the "Hair of the Dog," I have tried that before.

KAGAN: And?

HARRIS: Works for me. That and pizza.

KAGAN: All the years I lived in Arizona and people swore by menudo (ph), the Mexican food...

HARRIS: Oh God, I've seen that stuff.

KAGAN: ... that's made from the lining of a stomach cow (ph). I think it's because it's just like oh I'm eating a menudo so you...

HARRIS: Yes, but that's some...

KAGAN: ... forget about the hangover.

HARRIS: Yes, but it looks the same way coming in as it does coming out now. I don't know about that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com