Not even one glass of wine is safe during pregnancy, study finds



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Not even one glass of wine is safe during pregnancy because 'ANY amount of alcohol damages in unborn babies' brains'

  • Scientists led by a scientist in China scanned the brains of 40 teenagers
  • They found those mothers during pregnancy
  • Electrical activity was reduced in a vital bridge of fibers in the brain
  • The team warn any alcohol at any stage of pregnancy could be damaging

No amount of alcohol is safe for women to drink while they're pregnant, according to research.

Drinking can harm the development of a baby's brain in any quantity or at any stage during pregnancy, scientists found.

In a study on teenagers, scans revealed a pattern of brain damage in those who had fetal alcohol syndrome, caused by alcohol exposure while in the womb.

Despite clear warnings, many British mothers still drink while expecting – one in six children have signs of alcohol damage, scientists found last year.

Researchers led by Xi'an Jiaotong University in China said, they are more likely to be pregnant alcohol consumption '(stock image)

Researchers led by Xi'an Jiaotong University in China said, they are more likely to be pregnant alcohol consumption '(stock image)

Researchers led by Xi'an Jiaotong University in China examined the brains of 40 teenagers.

More than half of them (21) had mothers who drank during their pregnancy, and 19 had mothers who did not drink.

They found the corpus callosum – a part of the brain which links the left and right halves – was unhealthier in alcohol-exposed children.

This part of the brain is a bundle of fibers that creates a bridge across the central divide.

People with connection in these nerves have multiple schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, autism and depression, the scientists said.

WHY SHOULD NOT PREGNANT WOMEN DRINK ALCOHOL?

Pregnant women should not drink alcoholic drinks because of the chemical can pass into their baby's body.

The liver is one of the last organs in the womb, so babies are exposed to alcohol.

Drinking during the first trimester can raise the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, or low birth weight.

Pregnancy increases the risk of being born with the health problems.

Babies of mothers who drank in pregnancy can develop a serious condition called fetal alcohol syndrome.

This can cause physical deformities (notably the eyes can be set apart, and a large forehead and thin upper lip can develop) as well as disability.

Babies with severe fetal alcohol syndrome may have learning difficulties, behavior problems or even develop cerebral palsy.

Around 6,000 to 7,000 babies are thought to be born in the UK every year with fetal alcohol syndrome, according to the Mencap charity.

Source: NHS

'This work presents evidence that children are exposed to the risk of suffering from impaired cognitive abilities,' said the study's lead author, Lin Gao.

'Our study … shows that there is no safe amount or safe stages during pregnancy for alcohol consumption.'

The Chief Medical Officer for the UK, Lady Sally Davies, has not been pregnant yet.

Exactly how alcohol damage has been unclear to scientists, but this may be a key discovery.

The differences were found by scanning the brain 's electrical business using a process called magnetoencephalography.

This involves using an extremely sensitive machine to record normal impulses in the brain and build work sections.

Scientists in Bristol and Cardiff last year revealed around 79 per cent of British children born in the 1990s.

Their 13.500 children said 17 per cent of babies had a poor understanding of their mothers' drinking.

Research leader Dr. Cheryl McQuire, of the University of Bristol, said in November: 'The high rates of prenatal alcohol use and FASD-related symptoms that we found in our study suggest that [foetal alcohol syndrom e] is likely to be a significant public health concern in the UK.

'Guidance states the safest approach is all about you if you're pregnant, or think you can get pregnant.'

The Xi'an Jiaotong University was published in the Chaos journal by the American Institute of Physics.

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