Alcohol in breast milk can lead to a decline in cognition in children, according to a study "CBS Denver

(CBS Local / CNN) – Children's exposure to alcohol through breast milk can cause a comparable decline in their cognitive abilities, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

"This is the first study" Researchers from Macquarie University in Australia wrote in the report.

The previously undisclosed TSA program tracks unsuspecting passengers [19659002] obtained data from a longitudinal study, a continuous study of data over a period of time, from 5,107 Australian infants recruited in 2004 and evaluated every two years up to age 11. mothers on their alcohol consumption using a modified questionnaire from the World Health Organization.They were also questioned about daily smoking during pregnancy and pregnancy. The children were asked about their vocabulary, their nonverbal reasoning, and their cognitive processes.

The researchers also found an increase in alcohol consumption among six- and seven-year-old mothers who had breastfed.This was not the case for those who had never breastfed after adjusting for certain factors such as prenatal alcohol consumption, sex, age, and age. child and mother, duration of breastfeeding and birth weight. This reduced cognitive ability was not maintained when children were assessed at ages 10 and 11, the authors found.

"If you have a small effect to start and that lasts, for example, 6 or 7 years old, By the time the child grows up, other environmental factors will play a bigger role," said Dr. Melissa Bartick, an assistant professor of medicine at the Cambridge Health Alliance and at Harvard Medical School, who did not participate in the study. [19659002] The researchers speculated that & # 39; Increased education was a possible mediator for the diminished effects of age and alcohol.The importance of the relationship between alcohol exposure in the home and the home. Breast milk and cognition was low and they suspected that clinical consequences could be limited unless mothers consume a lot.

Smoking does not appear to have an effect on cognition. breastfeeding tended to smoke fewer cigarettes per day than those who did not t not: 1.06 cigarettes per day, compared with 2.84

"This is not because the authors have not found any smoking problem that mothers think it is OK to smoke while breastfeeding, "Bartick wrote in an email. "Remember, the authors have only watched one thing, cognition, and there are a lot of toxins in tobacco smoke, and smoking around kids can cause them a lot of trouble and just smoking on your clothes can harm the health of others, as well as the mother.In addition, 91.7% of the children in the study had already been breastfed, but only 8.2% n '. Beti in New Jersey, Mississippi

About 82.5% of children have ever breastfed in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

. Is a very different culture from that of the United States, "said Dr. Diane Spatz, a professor at the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania who made a professorial visit to Australia in 2007, but who was not involved in the new study. "Breastfeeding rates are much higher in Australia than in the US. 9, in the United States. Also, I think that alcohol consumption is different too, that is what I observed while I was there. "

About one in 10 pregnant women in the United States drinks alcohol, reports the CDC.A study reported that 40% to 80% of women in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand drank alcohol during pregnancy

"I think we really need to emphasize that when you are pregnant you should not consume alcohol. Spatz, who is also director of the Lactation Program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said, "When you are breastfeeding, you should not consume alcohol. If you want to consume an occasional adult drink, it's normal, but it should not be a regular consumption of alcohol.

The CDC says that not drinking alcohol is the safest option for breastfeeding mothers, but moderate consumption of alcohol up to one drink a day – n & rsquo; Is not known to be harmful to infants, especially if the mother waits at least two hours before breastfeeding. Breast milk has the highest alcohol content about half an hour or an hour after the woman consumes a drink, and alcohol is usually still detected for two to three hours after each drink.

"We tell moms you feel drunk, drunk, woozy, alcohol effects, you should not take care of your baby, nor should you breastfeed your baby," Spatz said. "It's when a mom is going to pump and throw her milk.But it's for getting rid of the milk for the sake of comfort."

"Pumping and dumping" does not decrease the amount of milk. alcohol in breast milk more quickly, says the CDC. Alcohol in breast milk is basically what's in his blood.

The new study is interesting but leaves unanswered questions because it does not detail the effect of alcohol consumption just in lactation, Spatz said. A high level of alcohol exposure during pregnancy can also affect the cognition of the child. And there is no distinction made between breastfeeding mothers exclusively or if there was some kind of supplementation.

Another limitation of the study was that individuals were not studied, only a large population, says Bartick.

that researchers "had to do what is called imputing missing data, which means that every time you have missing data, it means that it will be less accurate than if you had all the data out there. "

"I think the study is useful, but it does not really answer the question.The question is, how much, if any, alcohol is safe during breastfeeding" said Bartick. "I would advise mothers to avoid alcohol and not to consume alcohol, not to use beer to try to increase their milk production. 39 is prudent to advise. "

Dr. Lauren M. Jansson, director of pediatrics at the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy and associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wrote in a commentary published with the study "Previous recommendations that reveal limited consumption of alcohol to be breastfeeding compatible during critical periods of development, such as the early months of life, may need to be reconsidered in light of this combined evidence. "

More research is needed to fully understand the effects of maternal consumption of alcohol and other marijuana substances on breastfed children," said Jansson. A deeper understanding of specific psychosocial risks for breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding mothers who consume various substances is also suggested

. But this study is "an important step in our understanding of the complex neurobiological and developmental vulnerability of the exposed substance. , She added

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