Thanks for coming along to the studio today Damian. We are going to talk about alcohol – and more to the point –alcohol abuse – what we've come to know as binge drinking. Yes. Thanks for inviting me Ann. We keep hearing about cases of binge drinking – in the newspapers, on television, in magazines – and on radio chat show like this one today. But what exactly is binge drinking? What does the term mean? Is there a difference between binge drinking and just plain old "getting drunk"? Well, the British Medical Association states that "there is no consensus on the definition of binge drinking". In the past we used the term 'binge drinking' to an extended period of time – a couple of days for example – when a person would continue to drink alcohol to such an extent that he – or she would abandon their usual activities – such as work – or, in the case of younger drinkers – classes. In medical terms we usually agree that binge drinking refers to the thresholds that we have for "holding our drink".