Study: Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is dangerous for the fetus

The excessive occasional consumption of alcohol during pregnancy carries risks: it can lead, and systematically leads, to fetal alcohol syndrome and other disorders that affect the life of a person. child, as warned by the Surgeon General of the United States since the 1980s.

But in recent years, some researchers have suggested that a glbad of red wine with a dinner or other forms of light consumption might suit the developing fetus: "[S]In early pregnancy, the amount of alcohol consumed in shopping malls may be less risky for the health of the mother and their babies than previously thought, "wrote Dr. Howard LeWine in a health blog published by Harvard Medical School in 2013, while conceding that is the safest choice. "

A new study released Wednesday suggests however that the only safe choice is not to consume alcohol. Researchers from the University of Washington examined 84 pairs of twins and siblings exposed to alcohol while they were fetuses and found that "two fetuses exposed to levels of alcohol were found to be fetuses". Identical spirits can suffer extremely different neurological damage, "according to a press release.

This means that "the only safe amount to drink is zero" because some fetuses are genetically more vulnerable to alcohol than others, wrote researchers in the study's summary, published Wednesday in the journal Advances in Pediatric Research.

"The evidence is conclusive," said Susan Astley Hemingway, senior author and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington's School of Medicine, in a statement.

The study of twins revealed something particularly fascinating: identical twins – whose genes were also identical – had the same health effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol; but in fraternal twins exposed in utero at the same level of alcohol, one could suffer only mild impacts while the other could have the syndrome of fetal alcohol in its own right, said the researchers.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, children may have abnormal facial features, reduced body size, loss of body weight, a smaller head, poor coordination, hyperactivity, poor memory, difficulty with movement, and difficulty with the body. learning and so much more.

"The alcohol in the mother's blood is pbaded to the baby through the umbilical cord," says the CDC.

Researchers said that one in 14 children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome diagnosed at the University of Washington was "exposed to a glbad of alcohol a day". According to the CDC, one in ten pregnant women in the United States says they have been drinking during her pregnancy with a third of women reporting excessive consumption of alcohol.

Researchers said the biggest implication of the new health study was that a baby's DNA could determine whether he would suffer lasting consequences from his mother's drinking – although researchers do not know yet why.

"We can not clinically identify the fetus that is most likely to be affected by alcohol exposure and that may be less vulnerable," said Astley Hemingway. "There is no test for that."

To carry out this study, the researchers studied 3,000 people who had been exposed to alcohol in utero during the last quarter century, or 84 identical and fraternal twins couples, as well as a half and a sister The same levels of exposure to fetal alcohol, and all of whom were "raised together and diagnosed at the same age," the researchers said.

The study included 9 pairs of identical twins, 39 pairs of fraternal twins, 27 pairs of natural brothers and sisters and 9 pairs of half-siblings. The researchers found that the fewer the couples were related, the more likely they were to have different effects of alcohol exposure – with 78% of half siblings showing results from alcohol. 39; alcohol exposure diverging, 59% of siblings and 44% of fraternal twins, according to researchers.