Disturbing study showing that early drinking can lead to alcohol dependency.
Teens who start drinking before age 15 could jump-start any genetic conditions they might have that predispose them to developing alcohol dependency, according to an Australian study. From a biological perspective, taking that first drink at a young age “may induce changes in the highly sensitive adolescent brain, which may also modify an individual’s subsequent genetic vulnerability to [alcohol dependence],” Arpana Agrawal, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and an author of the study, said in a university news release. – From Atlanta Journal Constitution