Binge drinking as a teenager 'may damage the brain for life': Alcohol puts young people at risk of anxiety disorders and addiction

Binge drinking as a teenager can cause long-lasting damage to the brain well into adulthood, a new study has warned.

This is because drinking excessive amounts of alcohol when young can damage the brain and cause permanent changes to DNA.

This, in turn, can put teenagers at risk of anxiety disorders and alcoholism, researchers found.

Alcohol changes genes in brain cells, which stop the cells developing connections between them, altering behaviour, they said. 

However, they discovered a cancer drug may reverse the damage.