Binge drinking as a teenager can cause long-lasting damage to the brain well into adulthood , a new study has warned . This is because drinking excessive amounts of alcohol when young can damage the brain and cause permanent changes to DNA . This , in turn , can put teenagers at risk of anxiety disorders and alcoholism , researchers found . Alcohol changes genes in brain cells , which stop the cells developing connections between them , altering behaviour , they said . However , they discovered a cancer drug may reverse the damage . Binge drinking as a teenager can cause long-lasting damage into adulthood , putting young people at risk of anxiety disorders and alcoholism . Professor Subhash Pandey , of the University of Illinois College of Medicine , explained that binge drinking during the teenage years disrupts the brain 's normal development . He said : 'Our study provides a mechanism for how binge-drinking during adolescence may lead to lasting changes that result in increased anxiety and alcoholism in adults . ' Intermittent alcohol exposure 'degrades the ability of the brain to form the connections it needs to during adolescence , he explained . 'The brain does n't develop as it should , and there are lasting behavioural changes associated with this , ' he added . As part of the study , Professor Pandey and his team carried out lab experiments on 28-day-old rats to investigate how alcohol would affect their brain development . They were given alcohol for two days on , then two days off , which was repeated over 13 days . Rats exposed to alcohol showed changes in behaviour that lasted into adulthood , long after the exposure to alcohol ended . Alcohol causes changes in the DNA in brain cells . However , researchers discovered a cancer drug may be able to reverse the changes . They showed increased anxiety-like behaviours and drank more alcohol in adulthood . When brain tissue from the area of the brain called the amygdala was examined , rats given alcohol showed changes to their DNA , known as epigenetic changes . Professor Pandey explained that epigenetic changes are chemical modifications of DNA , or of the proteins around which DNA is wound , like thread on a spool . Modification of these proteins , which are called histones , can change how loosely or tightly the DNA is wound . Many of us enjoy a chilled glass of wine or a cold beer after a hard day at work . But while the majority of people believe their drinking habits are under control , one in five young professionals now considers themselves to have a problem with alcohol , a survey found . A new poll laying bare the public 's attitudes to drinking found nearly half of young workers think it is acceptable to regularly get drunk on a night out , compared to a fifth of the general population . It also revealed the risky effects of drinking , as young people admitted to forgetting how they got home , driving themselves home drunk or getting in a car with someone they knew was intoxicated . Genes that lie within DNA that is tightly wrapped around the histones are less active than if the DNA is loosely wrapped . The looser the DNA is coiled , the more accessible the genes are to the cellular machinery that 'expresses ' them . The rats exposed to alcohol had more tightly coiled DNA . They also had increased levels of a protein called HDAC2 , which modifies histones , causing DNA to be wound tighter around them . These epigenetic changes were linked to lowered expression of a gene that nerve cells need in order to form new connections between cells , known as synaptic connections . Professor Pandey argued the lowered activity of this gene may be due to the tighter winding of its DNA . The lower activity of the gene persisted in adulthood , even if alcohol exposure was stopped weeks before . The researchers also observed diminished connectivity between nerves in the amygdalae of these affected adult rats . But a cancer drug known to block the activity of HDAC2 could be used to treat them , he said . In his experiments , the drug restored expression of the gene needed for synapse formation and the rats ' DNA was observed to be less tightly coiled . The effect of this was that the rats exhibited less anxiety and reduced alcohol intake . Professor Pandey added : 'We are n't sure if the drug needs to be given long term during adulthood in order to completely reverse the harmful effects of adolescent alcohol exposure . ' The findings were reported online in the journal Neurobiology of Disease .
Binge poisoning when drinking beverages cause changes in DNA in brain cells . The changes mean connections do not behave as normal between the cells . This alters the way genes are expressed and changes metabolism . However , researchers discovered a cancer drug can reverse the changes .