A new study from the Stanford School of Medicine reveals that adolescent females with the eating disorder bulimia are apparently immune to alcohol-related sickness.
“Our preliminary conclusion is that bulimic patients must suffer from a genetic mutation that prevents the absorption of ethanol into the blood stream,” stated Stanford geneticist and co-author of the study Dr. Andrea Humphries.
In the study, scientists asked 100 girls ages 16-21 to consume 10 shots of vodka. Research assistants left the room for 10 minutes and then recorded BAC levels after this time. Girls who were known bulimics were found to have lower BACs than anybody else at the time of the recording.
Vaden Health Center is currently designing a new AlcoholEdu program that uses bulimia patients as role models for proper alcohol consumption.
