Roman Bystrianyk
May 29th 06, 02:08 AM
Megan Rauscher, "Just two drinks a week may lower unborn child's IQ",
Reuters, May 26, 2006,
Link:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-05-26T123948Z_01_COL645378_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHILDS-IQ.xml&archived=False
For pregnant women, even a few alcoholic beverages per week during the
first or second trimester can have harmful consequences on the
cognitive development of the unborn child.
A long-term study has found that 10-year-old African-American children
who were exposed to between two to six drinks per week during
pregnancy, particularly in the second trimester, had a lower IQ
compared with children who were not exposed to alcohol while in the
womb.
"IQ is a measure of the child's potential to learn and survive in his
or her environment. It predicts how successful we will be in school,
work and life," study chief Dr. Jennifer A. Willford of the University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine noted in a university statement.
"The results of this study show that low-to-moderate levels of prenatal
alcohol exposure has a sustained negative effect on child IQ," she
added in comments to Reuters Health.
It's well known that heavy drinking during pregnancy can lead to lower
intelligence in children, but less is known about the effects of
light-to-moderate drinking during pregnancy on the child's IQ, Willford
and colleagues note in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and
Experimental Research.
To investigate, the team examined data from 636 mother-child pairs who
attended a prenatal clinic from 1983 to 1985. The women provided
information on alcohol use during each trimester of pregnancy and their
child's cognitive ability was assessed at age 10.
In African-American 10-year-olds, low-to-moderate alcohol exposure in
the first and second trimesters significantly predicted deficits in the
composite score of a standard test of intelligence, as well as several
individual components of the test.
No such association was found for Caucasian children in the study.
"This racial difference could not be explained by the amount or pattern
of drinking during pregnancy or socioeconomic factors," Willford told
Reuters Health. This suggests that genetics play a role in these racial
differences, the investigators add.
Willford noted that "many women know about fetal alcohol syndrome and
the potential dangers of prenatal alcohol exposure, particularly the
damaging effects that heavy drinking can cause to a child's cognitive
development. This study found that even light-to-moderate drinking
during pregnancy can affect IQ."
The investigators also found that binge drinking "was not the best
predictor of future cognitive defects in children whose mothers drank
at light-to-moderate levels during pregnancy." Rather, the overall
amount of alcohol consumed during pregnancy was more likely to predict
whether or not a child's cognitive development would be impaired.
"Since no one has been able to determine if there is a 'safe' level of
alcohol exposure during pregnancy, we can only say it's safer not to
drink at all," Willford concludes.
SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, June 2006.
Reuters, May 26, 2006,
Link:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-05-26T123948Z_01_COL645378_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHILDS-IQ.xml&archived=False
For pregnant women, even a few alcoholic beverages per week during the
first or second trimester can have harmful consequences on the
cognitive development of the unborn child.
A long-term study has found that 10-year-old African-American children
who were exposed to between two to six drinks per week during
pregnancy, particularly in the second trimester, had a lower IQ
compared with children who were not exposed to alcohol while in the
womb.
"IQ is a measure of the child's potential to learn and survive in his
or her environment. It predicts how successful we will be in school,
work and life," study chief Dr. Jennifer A. Willford of the University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine noted in a university statement.
"The results of this study show that low-to-moderate levels of prenatal
alcohol exposure has a sustained negative effect on child IQ," she
added in comments to Reuters Health.
It's well known that heavy drinking during pregnancy can lead to lower
intelligence in children, but less is known about the effects of
light-to-moderate drinking during pregnancy on the child's IQ, Willford
and colleagues note in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and
Experimental Research.
To investigate, the team examined data from 636 mother-child pairs who
attended a prenatal clinic from 1983 to 1985. The women provided
information on alcohol use during each trimester of pregnancy and their
child's cognitive ability was assessed at age 10.
In African-American 10-year-olds, low-to-moderate alcohol exposure in
the first and second trimesters significantly predicted deficits in the
composite score of a standard test of intelligence, as well as several
individual components of the test.
No such association was found for Caucasian children in the study.
"This racial difference could not be explained by the amount or pattern
of drinking during pregnancy or socioeconomic factors," Willford told
Reuters Health. This suggests that genetics play a role in these racial
differences, the investigators add.
Willford noted that "many women know about fetal alcohol syndrome and
the potential dangers of prenatal alcohol exposure, particularly the
damaging effects that heavy drinking can cause to a child's cognitive
development. This study found that even light-to-moderate drinking
during pregnancy can affect IQ."
The investigators also found that binge drinking "was not the best
predictor of future cognitive defects in children whose mothers drank
at light-to-moderate levels during pregnancy." Rather, the overall
amount of alcohol consumed during pregnancy was more likely to predict
whether or not a child's cognitive development would be impaired.
"Since no one has been able to determine if there is a 'safe' level of
alcohol exposure during pregnancy, we can only say it's safer not to
drink at all," Willford concludes.
SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, June 2006.