Image courtesy of Keerati / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By Erin McClary, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Most college students party at least four nights a week. These parties include kegs, hard liquor and shots. We party on campus, we party downtown and we party at fraternity houses.

But isn’t this normal? Isn’t college all about alcohol and the opportunity to get our first fake ID?

Unfortunately, senior high school students all around the country want to go to college just for the parties and alcohol. Yet do senior high school students or college students know that heavy drinking can have serious affects?

FACT: Drinking this much can cause serious health problems and has left many college students with long-term conditions.

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, about half of all college students (2 million) are considered risky binge drinkers. OK, so now most of us will assume this is no big deal because drinking is still a normal part of our lives.

Yes, there will be car accidents, hangovers and unprotected sexual activity. But isn’t that the extent of it?

WRONG. WebMD confirms that these 2 million binge drinkers are at risk for over 60 diseases. That’s right. Binge drinking – NOT alcoholism.

Here’s the rundown:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Dementia
• Seizures
• Gout
• Infectious disease
• Permanent nerve damage
• Pancreatic disease
• Depression
• Alcoholism
• Drug abuse
• Anemia
• Cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, liver, breast, and colorectal region

In honor of your first year of college, why not take a break and think before you drink?

It may not seem like a big deal right now, but like anything else in life, what you ignore now will come to haunt you later. Don’t be statistic — be an exception to one.