Teen girls may have increased health risks associated with heavy drinking

By Staff Writer

Although alcohol addiction is often seen as a men's issue, this condition is increasingly affecting women across the country. Often this problem begins during teen years, when adolescent girls are exposed to alcohol at parties and social settings. While teenagers may act as though their partying is a passing phase, many cannot escape their growing addiction. This issue has immediate repercussions, but long-term health problems may exist as well.

According to a new study conducted by researchers at Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, girls who drink heavily between the ages of nine and 15 increase their risk of having breast lumps when they get older, FamilyGoesStrong.com reports. Although 80 percent of these lumps are benign, some can be a precursor to breast cancer.

The St. Louis researchers found that young women who drank alcohol most days of the week were 5.5 times more likely to have benign breast disease than those who did not drink or who had less than one drink a week.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, early drinkers and experimenters were more likely than non-drinkers to report academic problems, substance abuse and delinquent behavior in both middle school and high school.