College Drinking and Heart Problems

Wow! It has been a long time since I wrote on this blog. Does anyone still look at this site? Just curious. I think part of the problem was that I spent the first 16 days of March in Russia teaching a class and when I came back I was busy with seminars and other things. Now I will try to make more time.

Here’s something of interest. “New research from the American Heart Association (AHA) reveals that college students who drink excessively can double their levels of something known as C-reactive protein (CRP), a biological marker for inflammation that has been associated with a higher chance of cardiovascular problems.” Dr. Sanjay Gupta writes for Time/CNN:

“In many ways, I was a pretty typical pre-med student. I studied hard with hopes of becoming a doctor, and on the weekends I drank socially with good friends. As I got older and passed through medical school and residency, my thirst for alcohol waned considerably. As it turns out, that may have been a good thing for many reasons. I didn't know it at that time, but drinking heavily, even as far back as college, could have increased my risk of heart disease.”

Read the rest here.