College students who binge drink regularly may be at an increased risk of developing heart problems later in life, a new study indicates.

US scientists looked at two groups of college students. All were otherwise healthy non-smokers, however one group was made up of binge drinkers, while the other group was made up of non-drinkers.

Binge drinking was defined as drinking five or more standard drinks for males and four or more standard drinks for females in a two-hour period.

The students who binge drank did this an average of six times a month over a four-year period.

All of the participants were also asked about their health and medical history, including any family history of alcohol abuse.

The scientists found that those who binged had impaired function in the body's two main cell types that control blood flow. They noted that these changes were equivalent to the impairment found in people with a lifetime history of heavy alcohol consumption on a daily basis.

These changes can also be a precursor for serious heart problems, such as atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), stroke and heart attacks.

While the binge drinking group were not found to have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels, the changes in their heart functioning was similar to that associated with these two heart risk factors.

"It is important that young adults understand that binge drinking patterns are an extreme form of unhealthy or at-risk drinking and are associated with serious social and medical consequences... Binge drinking is neurotoxic and our data support that there may be serious cardiovascular consequences in young adults," the scientists from the University of Illinois said.

They called for more research to determine whether the heart-related damage caused by early binge drinking can be reversed and to try to determine the timeframe for the onset of these problems.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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