KENT, Ohio, Sep 2, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Chronic alcohol consumption blunts
the ability of the body's biological clock to synchronize daily activities to
light, U.S. researchers said.
Christina L. Ruby, Allison J. Brager, Marc A. DePaul and J. David Glass, all of
Kent State University, and Rebecca A. Prosser of the University of Tennessee,
said disruption of the circadian rhythms dramatically increases the risks of
developing cancer, heart disease and depression.
The researchers divided hamsters into three groups, differing only in what they
drank. The control group received water only, a second group received water
containing 10 percent alcohol and the last third received water containing 20
percent alcohol.
If given a choice, hamsters prefer alcohol, the researchers said.
The animals drank as much as they wanted and lived in an environment that
provided 14 hours of light and 10 hours of darkness each day. The researchers
also changed the amount and intensity of light.
The researchers said the hamsters that drank alcohol had the hardest time
shifting their rhythms after exposure to dim light, and the more alcohol they
drank, the harder it was to adjust.
The findings are published in the American Journal of Physiology -- Regulatory,
Integrative and Comparative Physiology.
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