May 19, 2009 10:45 pm US/Pacific
Underage Drinking Could Be Devastating To Brain
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
Local kids as young as nine years old are ending up in the emergency room with alcohol poisoning, and experts say drinking at such a young age can have a devastating impact on brain development.
"No one thinks you can overdose on alcohol, but that's exactly what happened," said 17-year-old Leandra. "I had alcohol poisoning."
Her so-called friends abandoned her at a Woodland apartment complex where she nearly choked to death from throwing up so much -- not the image of drinking that kids see very often.
"You see people having fun and drinking but you never see them ending up at the hospital," Leandra said.
She ended up at the UC Davis emergency room, where doctors say they see kids several times a week, and more often every year. It's become such a problem that doctors just launched a pilot program they hope will help. It's called a brief intervention; it's worked with adults and could be critical for kids.
"During those teen years the wiring is kind of fine tuning itself in a couple areas of the brain," said Dr. James Holmes, the UC Davis ER Department Head. "In the pre-frontal cortex, you're thinking is going on there; your reasoning, judgment and impulse control all happens there."
Damage can also be done deep in the brain, affecting learning and memory. Alcohol can permanently shrink your brain, as seen in the MRI of a long-time drinker. Studies also show that kids who drink get lower grades and more sexually transmitted diseases than non-drinkers.
"They may have less impulse control, they may not adapt to social situations the same as others," Dr. Holmes said.
At UC Davis, doctors believe a little communication can make a big difference. Just 15 minutes can be effective in telling kids about the dangers of drinking.
"You never got the message about how dangerous drinking could be," Leandra said. "We had drugs in health class but there was never really any alcohol talk."
In this brief intervention pilot program at UC Davis, doctors ask a series of simple questions that gets the patient thinking, including why they drink and what they can do to avoid getting tempted to drink again at parties. It's simple, and there's no judging involved, just like a therapist would, doctors ask leading questions.
If teens get the message in time, they can avoid additional brain damage. Brain development in teens has peaks of activity, so if damage is done during one peak but the teen stops drinking before the next peak, the "rewiring" can be accomplished before the brain matures.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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