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Alcohol and Pregnancy
Babies Born to Mothers Who Drink Alcohol Heavily May
Suffer Permanent Nerve Damage
Newborns whose mothers drank alcohol heavily during
pregnancy had damage to the nerves in the arms and
legs, according to a study released recently by
researchers at the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development, one of the National
Institutes of Health. The study was conducted in
collaboration with researchers at the University of
Chile. The nerve damage was still present when the
children were re-examined at one year of age.
The study is the first to examine whether exposure
to alcohol before birth affects the developing
peripheral nervous system-the nerves in the arms and
legs, rather than in the brain or spinal cord. The
study appeared in the Journal of Pediatrics.
"Infants born to mothers who drank heavily during
pregnancy are known to be at risk for mental
retardation and birth defects, said Duane Alexander,
M.D., director of the NICHD. "This is the first
study to show that these infants may suffer
peripheral nerve damage as well."
Adults who drink excessive amounts of alcohol can
experience peripheral neuropathy, a condition that
occurs when nerves involved in communication between
the central nervous system (the brain and spinal
cord) and the rest of the body are damaged. This can
lead to tingling sensations, numbness, pain or
weakness.
The NICHD-University of Chile Alcohol and Pregnancy
Study compared 17 full-term, newborn infants whose
mothers drank heavily during pregnancy to 13
newborns not exposed to alcohol in the womb. "Heavy
drinking" is defined as having four standard drinks
per day (one standard drink is equivalent to one can
of beer, one glass of wine or one mixed drink). All
women identified as heavy drinkers were advised that
their drinking habits were potentially dangerous to
their fetus and were offered help from an alcohol
counseling clinic to stop drinking alcohol or to cut
down on their drinking.
All of the children underwent a complete
neurological exam followed by testing of the nerves
in their upper and lower limbs. The researchers
stimulated the nerves using a machine that passed a
very mild electric current through the skin and then
recorded the electrical activity of the nerves to
determine if they were normal or damaged. (The
procedure uses a current mild enough not to cause
pain.) The nerve studies were performed when the
children were about one month old and again when
they were 12 to 14 months old.
The children exposed to alcohol before they were
born experienced significant problems in conducting
a message through the nerves--both at one month and
one year of age. The alcohol-exposed children did
not experience any catch-up or improvement in nerve
function by the time they reached their first
birthday. "The finding that the nerve damage
persisted when the children were a year old suggests
that alcohol may cause permanent damage to
developing nerves," said James L. Mills, MD, MS,
director of the study and chief of the Pediatric
Epidemiology Section in the Division of
Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research at
the NICHD. "Because the children were evaluated
before they could talk, they were unable to tell us
if they had symptoms such as pain or numbness. We
are continuing to follow these children to determine
what effect this nerve damage will have on normal
nerve function and whether it will lead to weakness
or problems with touch sensation or fine motor
skills later in life." The National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that
pregnant women not consume any alcohol. Information
on the hazards of alcohol use during pregnancy is
available at
www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochure.htm
The NICHD is part of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), the biomedical research arm of the
federal government. NIH is an agency of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. It sponsors
research on development, before and after birth;
maternal, child, and family health; reproductive
biology and population issues; and medical
rehabilitation. NICHD publications, as well as
information about the Institute, are available from
the NICHD Web site,
www.nichd.nih.gov
, or from the NICHD Information Resource Center,
1-800-370-2943; e-mail
NICHDInformationResourceCenter@mail.nih.gov
mailto:
NICHDInformationResourceCenter@mail.nih.gov.
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