• Light Drinking in Pregnancy Affects Child's IQ
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[quote] [quote] [IMG]http://images.sciencedaily.com/2012/11/121114172833.jpg[/IMG] ============================================================ Relatively small levels of exposure to alcohol while in the womb can influence a child's IQ. (Credit: © Barbara Pheby / Fotolia) [/quote] [B]Relatively small levels of exposure to alcohol while in the womb can influence a child's IQ, according to a new study led by researchers from the universities of Bristol and Oxford using data from over 4,000 mothers and their children in the Children of the 90s study (ALSPAC) and published November 14 in PLOS ONE.[/B] Current advice to pregnant women about moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy is contradictory, with some official guidelines recommending complete abstinence and others suggesting that moderate use is safe. Previous studies have produced conflicting and inconsistent evidence on the effects of moderate alcohol intake on a child's IQ. This may be because it is difficult to separate the effects of moderate alcohol consumption from other lifestyle and social factors, such as smoking, diet, affluence, mother's age and education. This study, believed to be the first substantial one of its kind, used genetic variation to investigate the effects of moderate (<1-6 units of alcohol per week) drinking during pregnancy among a large group of women and their children. Since the individual variations that people have in their DNA are not connected to lifestyle and social factors, the approach removes that potential complication. Four genetic variants in alcohol-metabolising genes among the 4,167 children were strongly related to lower IQ at age eight. The child's IQ was on average almost two points lower per genetic modification they possessed. But this effect was only seen among the children of women who were moderate drinkers. There was no effect evident among children whose mothers abstained during pregnancy, strongly suggesting that it was the exposure to alcohol in the womb that was leading to the difference in child IQ. Heavy drinkers were not included in the study. When a person drinks alcohol, ethanol is converted to acetaldehyde by a group of enzymes. Variations in the genes that 'encode' these enzymes lead to differences in their ability to metabolise ethanol. In 'slow metabolisers', peak alcohol levels may be higher and persist for longer than in 'fast metabolisers'. It is believed that the 'fast' metabolism of ethanol protects against abnormal brain development in infants because less alcohol is delivered to the fetus, although the exact mechanisms are still unclear. Previous studies have relied on observational evidence, but this is problematic. Observational studies often find that moderate drinking is beneficial compared to abstention, but this is because mothers who drink in moderation during pregnancy are typically well educated, have a good diet and are unlikely to smoke -- all factors which are linked to higher IQ in the child, and which mask any negative effect that exposure to alcohol may have. This study, on the other hand, looked at moderate (rather than high) alcohol intake in over 4,000 women and used a novel technique known as Mendelian randomization, which is a scientifically robust way of investigating the links between exposures and later diseases, using genetic variants which modify exposure levels and which are not influenced by lifestyle or other factors. The mothers' alcohol intake was based on a questionnaire completed when they were 18 weeks' pregnant. It included questions on the average amount and frequency of alcohol consumption before the current pregnancy, during the first trimester, and in the previous two weeks or at the time when they first felt the baby move. One drink was specified as one unit of alcohol. Around 32 weeks of gestation the mother completed another questionnaire in which she was asked about her average weekday and weekend alcohol consumption, from which weekly intake was derived. Any woman who reported drinking, even if it was less than one unit per week either in the first trimester or when she felt the baby first move was classified as drinking during pregnancy. At approximately 18 and 32 weeks of pregnancy, the women were also asked on how many days during the past month they had drunk two pints of beer (or the equivalent amount of alcohol). Any women who reported doing this on at least one occasion was classified as a binge drinker for the purposes of this analysis and were excluded. The children's IQ was tested when they were aged eight using a shortened version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children from which an overall age adjusted total score was derived. Speaking about the findings, the report's main author, Dr Sarah Lewis, said: 'Our results suggest that even at levels of alcohol consumption which are normally considered to be harmless, we can detect differences in childhood IQ, which are dependent on the ability of the fetus to clear this alcohol. This is evidence that even at these moderate levels, alcohol is influencing fetal brain development.' Dr Ron Gray from the University of Oxford who led the research added: 'This is a complex study but the message is simple: even moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can have an effect on future child intelligence. So women have good reason to choose to avoid alcohol when pregnant.' [B]Journal:[/B] Sarah J. Lewis, Luisa Zuccolo, George Davey Smith, John Macleod, Santiago Rodriguez, Elizabeth S. Draper, Margaret Barrow, Rosa Alati, Kapil Sayal, Susan Ring, Jean Golding, Ron Gray. Fetal Alcohol Exposure and IQ at Age 8: Evidence from a Population-Based Birth-Cohort Study. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (11): e49407 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049407 ============================================================ Source: [URL]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121114172833.htm[/URL] [/quote]
This is common sense really, We know that alcohol affects a woman and the baby when she is pregnant
It'd be awesome if we could test this using time travel on only one subject. Imagine that, complete control.
This just in smoking while pregnant is dangerous for the baby.
read the thread title as "light drinking in progress" like scientists developed the ability to drink light i need to stop wandering the main page these titles get cut off often
IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME THEN WE DIDNT KNOW
Okay now we've scientifically proven it... and still nothing will be done. It'll still be morally and socially acceptably as the right of the mother to sabotage her child's health. I don't see this changing anything until society changes a long time from now.
Offhand, I can't think of any reason why a pregnant woman would want to ingest alcohol, which is a poison to humans, in any amount. I suppose there might be a medicine or something, but that would be under a doctor's care and in controlled doses. You have to be a real alcoholic to not be able to skip drinking for 9 months.
[QUOTE=scout1;38457848]Okay now we've scientifically proven it... and still nothing will be done. It'll still be morally and socially acceptably as the right of the mother to sabotage her child's health. I don't see this changing anything until society changes a long time from now.[/QUOTE] it hasn't been socially acceptable to drink while pregnant for about 40 years, and never been morally acceptable to do so
[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;38458708]and never been morally acceptable to do so[/QUOTE] I don't know about that. Once upon a time doctors told pregnant women to drink to keep their nerves calm & likewise the fetus healthy.
[QUOTE=BlueChihuahua;38458757]I don't know about that. Once upon a time doctors told pregnant women to drink to keep their nerves calm & likewise the fetus healthy.[/QUOTE] Because alcohol is [I]totally[/I] the only method in the universe for relieving stress.
[QUOTE=BlueChihuahua;38458757]I don't know about that. Once upon a time doctors told pregnant women to drink to keep their nerves calm & likewise the fetus healthy.[/QUOTE] That falls under socially acceptable
[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;38458708]it hasn't been socially acceptable to drink while pregnant for about 40 years, and never been morally acceptable to do so[/QUOTE] The rights of the mother have always come first, and will for the foreseeable future. I don't think you can say the rights of the mother come first EXCEPT in this case, so it's both or neither, or thereabouts. It's their right, and is it not morally acceptable for them to exercise their rights?
[QUOTE=scout1;38458969]The rights of the mother have always come first, and will for the foreseeable future. I don't think you can say the rights of the mother come first EXCEPT in this case, so it's both or neither, or thereabouts. It's their right, and is it not morally acceptable for them to exercise their rights?[/QUOTE] Responsibilities come before rights. It's a mother's responsibility to care for her children up to a certain point, and drinking during pregnancy is near the top of the list of things counter-intuitive to that responsibility.
I will try to remember this when I get pregnant. [editline]15th November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=scout1;38458969]The rights of the mother have always come first, and will for the foreseeable future. I don't think you can say the rights of the mother come first EXCEPT in this case, so it's both or neither, or thereabouts. It's their right, and is it not morally acceptable for them to exercise their rights?[/QUOTE] I think you missed the latest abortion thread.
Heh, looking at it, the article says that the results vary, depending on your genetic ability to metabolise alcohol. The slower it happens the more odanger happens. The faster you metabolise it, the less danger happens.
This is some Brave New World shit here Now we're only waiting on Bokanovsky's process
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