Drunk Teen Crashes Stolen Car While Going 132 MPH!

Are teens becoming more and more brazen?  Please read the following article.

Derek Pruitt-dpruitt@poststar.com Dustin T. St. Andrews, 16, leaves Washington County Court with his mother after his arraignment on Friday. Andrews was charged with 23 counts, including second-degree murder, in connection with the April 21 crash in Putnam that killed Shannon James and Michaella K. Lopes.

FORT EDWARD - A Washington County grand jury has filed second-degree murder charges against the Putnam teen who police say was driving drunk and under the influence of marijuana when he crashed a stolen car, killing two 16-year-old girls. (more…)

Teens binge drink, government study finds

Nearly half of all U.S. high-school students admit to recently drinking alcohol illegally, and most of them were binge drinkers, according to a government survey published on Tuesday.

These binge drinkers — who had five or more drinks in a row — were more likely to have sex, fight, smoke or use drugs, the study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

“Our study clearly shows that it’s not just that students drink alcohol, but how much they drink that most strongly affects whether they experience other health and social problems,” said Dr. Jacqueline Miller of the CDC’s Alcohol Team, who led the study. “It also underscores the importance of implementing effective strategies to prevent underage and binge drinking, such as enforcing the minimum legal drinking age and reducing alcohol marketing to youth, which can help us change social norms regarding the acceptability of underage and binge drinking.” (more…)

Alcohol Messes with Your Blood Sugar Levels

Sugar/glucose is the main energy source for all tissues. The brain and muscles work exclusively off these levels in the blood. An athlete with compromised blood sugar levels cannot perform at any optimal level. Glucose comes from three sources: food, synthesis in the body, and break down of glycogen (the form of glucose that the body stores in the liver).

Hormones maintain a constant concentration of glucose in the blood, which is especially important for the brain because it cannot make or store glucose but depends on glucose supplied by the blood. Even brief periods of low glucose levels (hypoglycemia) can cause brain damage or affect the performance of the central nervous system.

Insulin and glucagons, secreted by the pancreas, regulate blood glucose levels.  Insulin lowers the glucose concentration in the blood, and glucagon raises it.  Because maintaining blood sugar levels is of extreme importance for your body, there are also other hormones released from the adrenal and pituitary glands to support glucagon’s function. (more…)