Pregnancy Alcohol causes nerve damage

Increased neurological damage from alcohol in pregnancy

07/25/2012

Every woman should be aware that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause considerable harm to their unborn child. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) has been used in offspring to date as a typical consequence of the alcohol consumption of pregnant women. In addition, however, there are the relatively widespread disorders of the central nervous system, which represent an additional risk for the offspring.

Scientists led by Devon Kuehn from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and Sofía Aros from the University of Chile at Santiago have found that the neurological disorders that are called "Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders" (FASD) are more widespread Phenomenon is called the fetal alcohol syndrome. So far, however, these impairments of the offspring caused by alcohol during pregnancy often go undetected, according to the statement of the scientists in the journal "Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research".

Nearly 10,000 pregnant women questioned about their alcohol consumption
As part of their cohort study, researchers first surveyed 9,628 Chilean women about their alcohol intake during pregnancy. Of the pregnant women surveyed, 101 were selected who consumed at least four drinks a day. The control group was 101 women without alcohol during pregnancy. "Detailed data on alcohol use during pregnancy were collected and children were examined in clinics up to the age of 8.5", write the researchers around Devon Kuehn and Sofía Aros. In order to avoid falsification of the results, the investigating physicians in the clinics were not informed, according to the scientists, that some mothers had drunk during pregnancy.

80 percent of alcohol-exposed children show abnormalities
Researchers report that 80 percent of children whose mothers drank during pregnancy had "one or more abnormalities associated with alcohol exposure". Functional anomalies of the central nervous system were recorded in 44 percent of alcohol-exposed children and in the control group, only 13.6 percent suffered from similar impairments. Abnormal facial features, which are also used by physicians as an obvious indication of alcohol-related impairments of the offspring, were found in 17.3 percent of alcohol-exposed children (compared to 1.1 percent in the control group). Growth inhibition suffered from 27.2 percent of children in the group exposed to alcohol and 12.5 percent in the control group.

Binge drinking carries a special risk
The "pattern of alcohol consumption that carries the greatest risk of adverse effects is high-dose drinking with high weekly intakes" (an average of 60 grams of alcohol per day), according to the researchers. Functional neurological deficits in the offspring are the most frequent consequence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Since the affected children often have no physical impairments, these damages are often not recognized by the prenatal alcohol exposure, so Kuehn and Aros on. Many affected children with neurological problems would therefore be misdiagnosed.

ADHD and cognitive impairment due to prenatal alcohol exposure
The impact of alcohol consumption on the offspring during pregnancy can also be seen in a study by the research team headed by Edward Riley of the Department of Psychology at San Diego State University in California, also published in the journal "Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research". Therefore, later in life, prenatal alcohol exposure not only leads to increased attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other behavioral problems, but also to impaired cognitive performance. This effect could not be completely remedied by positive influences later in life, reports Riley and colleagues. The slowed cognitive receptivity is manifested, for example, in hypoactivity and daydreaming. According to the experts, the affected children also tended to have learning and language problems. Overall, the negative effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy are so complex that it is urgent for pregnant women to abstain from alcohol altogether. (Fp)

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