Health Risks of Underage Drinking in Adolescent Women

As they reach adolescence, many teenage girls will be faced with a multitude of social pressures and personal curiosities. Often, these can involve substances such as alcohol and drugs. According to Drink Aware, the vast majority of teenagers don’t wait until they’re 18 before embarking on the drinking scene and by the time they reach 15, 8 out 10 teenagers have tried alcohol.

Short of locking your teenage daughters in the house, it can be difficult to stop them engaging in this sort of behaviour. However it is important to know the potential risks of underage drinking so that you can educate them on the damage that they could be doing to their physical, mental, emotional and sexual health. Often it can be difficult to make a young person care too deeply about their personal wellbeing – a lot of teenagers feel that they are invincible. But we hope we have compiled a few of the serious and less glamorous side effects of underage drinking that may make them sit up and take heed of your warnings.

INFERTILITY & SEXUAL HEALTH

In a study reported by Livestrong, evidence suggests that even low to moderate alcohol consumption can disrupt the reproductive hormones in women responsible for regulating menstrual cycles. This is particularly relevant during puberty when the body is developing, hormones are circulating and the menstrual cycle is just establishing itself. If a young woman were to disrupt this progress repeatedly then she could find herself suffering from menstrual disorders, irregular bleeding, ovarian problems and even fertility issues in later life.

Research also suggests that girls you binge drink are up to 63% more likely to become teenage mothers. It seems that when the alcohol begins flowing, inhibitions, good judgement and thoughts of safe sex go out of the window. Statistics show that 2007 11% of teenagers have admitted to engaging in unsafe sex after drinking and therefore exposing themselves to unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. With BBC Health suggesting that up to one in ten sexually active people carry Chlamydia, it really only takes one careless encounter to contract a disease that can have all sorts of dangerous side effects including infertility.

GROWTH STUNTING, WEIGHT GAIN & SKIN

Puberty is a busy time with hormonal changes, growth and organ development taking place. Drinking alcohol prior to or during puberty can disrupt the hormonal balance and therefore stunt the growth and development of bones and vital organs. This is particularly relevant in girls as they are generally built smaller then boys and so the alcohol in their systems has a more concentrated effect.

Alcohol is full of empty calories and has no nutritional value. The body seeks to break it down and dispose of it as soon as possible because it has no health benefits and cannot be stored in the body. In the process of metabolising the alcohol, the body doesn’t get chance to break down anything else that has recently been ingested and so weight gain and excess alcohol consumption often go hand in hand.

Alcohol also depletes the body of Vitamin A which is responsible for replenishing new skin cells. To deprive the body of this could mean seeing an unpleasant effect on the complexion which could become dry, dull and prematurely aged.


BRAIN DAMAGE AND MENTAL DISORDERS

Like the rest of the body, the brain also develops throughout puberty and continues to form into a person’s mid 20’s. According to Too Smart To Start, drinking alcohol throughout this period of brain development can affect the structure and functionality of the brain which can have lasting consequences. Each part of the brain is responsible for different things from emotions, memories, rational thought, self regulation and problem solving. To damage a certain part of the brain could permanently impair one of these modes of thought. For example, if the hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for forming memories) is damaged then a person may find they have trouble remembering things in later life.

Similarly, alcohol has been strongly linked to a variety of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety due to its interference with brain chemistry and the fact that it increases the likelihood of suffering from low mood, insomnia, loss of appetite and social dysfunctional – all of which go hand in hand with depression.


ORGAN DAMAGE AND INCREASE RISK OF DISEASE

Alcohol has a strong, detrimental effect on the liver (particularly a liver that is still developing) as most people are aware of. But it can also increase the risk of mouth, throat and breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease through increased blood pressure and high cholesterol. These conditions are irreversible and can be potentially life threatening.

So if you think that your teenage daughter might be about to start experimenting with binge drinking or alcohol then do make sure that she is aware of the risks involved. It is very difficult to stop young people being curious about things like this but with the right education they can at least know the potential dangers that they are exposing themselves to and hopefully drink responsibly, in moderation and ideally, not at all.

CERVICAL CANCER - A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE !!!.

World wide cervical cancer is the second most common and the 5th deadliest cancer in women. Approximately 80% of cervical cancer now occurs in developing countries such as Nigeria.
Cervical cancer is common among female sex workers. It is rare in Nuns, except for those who had been sexually active before entering the convent. Cervical cancer is more common in the second wives of men whose first wife died from cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is rare in Jewish women.

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

The early stages of cervical cancer may be symptomless. Vaginal bleeding, contact bleeding or rarely a vaginal mass may indicate the presence of malignancy. Moderate pain during sexual intercourse and vaginal discharge are symptoms of cervical cancer. In advanced disease, spread may be present in the abdomen, lining or elsewhere.
Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include loss of appetite, weight loss, fatique, pelvic pain, back pain, leg pain, swollen legs, heavy bleeding from the vaginal, bone fracture and rarely leakage of urine in faeces from vaginal.

CAUSES

Infection with some type of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the greatest risk factor for cervical cancer; followed by smoking. Other risk factors include HIV infection. Not all the causes of cervical cancer are known, however and several other combining factors have been implicated.
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the cause of 70% of cervical cancer globally. Women who have many sexual partners or who have sex with men who have had many other partners have a greater risk of the 150 -200 types of HPV known, 15 are classified as high risk types. Types 16 and 18 generally acknowledged to cause about 70% of cervical cancer.
Genital warts are caused by various strains of HPV. The general view is that a patient must have been infected with HPV to develop cervical cancer and is hence viewed as a sexually transmitted disease. Use of condom significantly reduce but does not always prevent transmission. HPV can be transmitted by skin to skin contact with the infected area.

DIAGNOSIS.

Whilst Pap smear is an effective screening test, confirmation of the diagnosis of cancer or precancer requires a biopsy of the cervix. This is often done through colposcopy, a magnified visual inspection of the cervix aided by using diluted acetic acid solution to highlight the abnormal cells on the surface of the cervix. Colposcopic impression, the estimate of disease severity based on visual inspection forms part of diagnosis. Further diagnostic and treatment procedure are loop electrical excision procedure (LEEP) and conisation

PRECANCEROUS LEISONS

Cervical intra epithelial neoplasia (CIN) the precursor to cervical cancer is often diagnosed on examination of cervical biopsy by a pathologist through a cervical smear or Pap smear.
Squamons cell carcinoma (80-85%) is the cervical cancer with the most incidence. The incidence of Aden carcinoma (15%) is on the increase in recent decades especially among women.

PREVENTION

The widespread introduction of cervical screening by Pap smear for cervical cancer has been credited with dramatically reducing the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in the developed countries.
Cervical smear test every 3- 5 years with incidence by up to 80%. Abnormal result may suggest the presence of precancerous changes allowing examination and possible prevention treatment. If precancerous disease or cervical cancer is detected early, it can be monitored or treated relatively non- invasively with little impairment of infertility.

VACCINATION

There are 2 HPV vaccines which reduce the risk of cancerous or precancerous changes of the cervix and perineum by about 93%. HPV vaccines are typically given to women age 9 to 26 as the vaccine is only effective if given before the infection occurs. The vaccines have been shown to be effective for at least 4 to 6 years. The case for a booster dose is strong. The high cost of this vaccine has been a cause of concern. Many countries have considered programmes to fund HPV vaccination and Nigeria should not be an exception.

CONDOMS

Condoms are thought to offer some protection against cervical cancer. Evidence of whether it offers protection against HPV is mixed, but they may protect against genital warts, and the precursor to cervical cancer. They also protect against other STDs such as HIV and Chlamydia which are associated with greater risk of developing cervical cancer.
Condoms may be useful in treating potentially precancer changes in cervix. Semen increases risk of precancer CIN3 and the use of condoms help to cause this changes regress and help clear HPV.

TREATMENT

Treatment of cervical cancer varies world wide, largely due to a large variance in the disease burden in developed and developing nations, access to surgeons skilled in radical pelvic surgery and emergence of fertility sparing therapy in developed countries. Because cervical cancers are radiosensitive, radiation may be urgent in all stages where surgical options do not exist. Micro invase (stage 1A) is best treated by hysterectomy. A combination of surgery, radiation and Chemotherapy can be used depending on stages of cancer and expertise available.