Ben Davis

drkoop.com Health News

For many of us, hot weather and cold beer go well together, especially at cookouts, baseball games and other typical summer pastimes.

But for some men, moderate alcohol consumption goes by the wayside at such festive occasions, as one or two drinks stretches into five or more -- defined as "binge drinking" by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). While many people can enjoy one or two drinks a day without suffering ill effects, men who drink excessively risk a host of unpleasant and dangerous consequences that can last a lot longer than the next morning's hangover.

It is a little known fact that binge drinking can seriously damage the male reproductive system. This goes well beyond the familiar case of a drunken man unable to satisfy his carnal desires after a night of carousing, or "brewer's droop" as the British colorfully put it. According to NIAAA researchers, alcohol disrupts the production of all the hormones necessary for normal male sexual and reproductive functioning, including testosterone. One study indicates that testosterone production could be inhibited by as much as 44 percent in men who consume as few as five drinks in one sitting.

In the long term, heavy drinking can lead to serious sexual impairment in men, including impotence, testicular shrinkage, and even the "feminization" of male sexual characteristics such as breast enlargement.

So the next time you're tempted to get one more beer during the seventh-inning stretch, think about all the possible consequences of excessive drinking. The woman in your life and future children may thank you later.

　　(From AOL)