Prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to abnormalities in offspring

Washington, Jan 17: Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy can bring with it an array of abnormalities referred to as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders in the offspring, as per some expert opinions.

This Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) may be manifested in the physical features that may include smooth philtrum, thin vermillion border, short palpebral fissures and microcephaly. The other features may include deficient growth in weight and height.

A new study has detailed upon in what manner quantities of alcohol exposure, patterns of drinking, and timing of exposure can affect these features. This study has found various specific associations, in which one during the second half of the first trimester of pregnancy is most significant.

The study was conducted by Haruna Sawada Feldman, a post-doctoral student in the department of pediatrics and her colleagues under the guidance of professor Christina Chambers at the University of California, San Diego. Data were collected from and 992 women and their singleton infants in California between 1978 and 2005,while analyzing the data patterns of drinking and timing of alcohol exposure in relation to selected FAS features were also taken in account.

While doing this study dysmorphologist were employed to assess Structural features, which conducted d a blinded physical examination of all infants. Patterns of drinking, drinks per day, number of drinking episodes, and maximum number of drinks were also considered.

The exposure Timing was assessed zero to six weeks post-conception, six to 12 weeks post-conception, and during the first, second, and third trimesters.

"Higher prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in every pattern we examined was significantly associated with an increased risk for having an infant born with reduced birth length or weight or having a smooth philtrum or thin vermillion border or microcephaly," Feldman said.

"The most significant associations were seen during the second half of the first trimester; for every one drink increase in the average number of drinks consumed daily, there was a 25 percent increased risk for smooth philtrum, a 22 percent increased risk for thin vermillion border, a 12 percent increased risk for microcephaly, a 16 percent increased risk for reduced birth weight, and an 18 percent increased risk for reduced birth length,” said in the research.

"Due to the study design, we were only able to include women who gave birth to live infants," Fieldman said.

"Therefore, we did not include women who may have had miscarriages or stillbirths. It is important to know that alcohol-exposed infants who would have exhibited alcohol-related minor malformations might also be more likely to be lost to miscarriage following exposure during the first six-week window," she said.

Feldman and Philip A. May, a research professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at The University of North Carolina, concluded that there is no "safe" level of drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

The results are likely to be published in the April 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

--With inputs from ANI