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Prenatal Nutrient Could Protect Babies if Moms Drink
According to the CDC, the number of women who drink during pregnancy has not changed substantially since 1991, despite aggressive health campaigns about the adverse affects of alcohol on fetuses. So researchers are hoping they may be able to protect babies from Mom’s drinking with prenatal treatments, rather than solely through prevention.
Right now, fetal alcohol syndrome can only be treated through rigorous behavioral and educational therapies once the exposed children are preschool age or older. And since 12 percent of pregnant American women (and higher percentages of women in other countries) drink despite doctors’ warnings to the contrary, researchers hope that some of the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome could be prevented by administering a learning-related nutrient called choline to pregnant women and newborns.
Preliminary studies with pregnant rats have been encouraging, and researchers are now testing their theory on pregnant Ukrainian women who have admitted to drinking while pregnant. (All of the women in the study will undergo alcohol counseling.)
But even if choline proves effective as a partial deterrent to fetal alcohol syndrome, doctors warn that no single medication could protect babies from all of the potentially adverse affects of alcohol.
What do you think? Is such a preventative medication a commonsense way to protect babies, or could it endanger babies even more by giving drinking moms false reassurance?
Photo: Telegraph
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3 Comments
PlumbLucky commented on Jun 24 09 at 9:21 amI’m feeling a little cynical this morning, so I’ll go with: potentially bad idea as it allows for a “bandaid” and might make getting tanked while pregnant an acceptable idea to someone.
Knitty commented on Jun 24 09 at 9:48 amTwelve percent of women drinking during their pregnancy does NOT mean that twelve percent of US women are getting drunk while pregnant. That number includes women who, say, have half a glass of wine at a holiday meal. The women whose babies develop FAS are alcoholics who drink a substantial amount on a daily basis, but even for them I have doubts that this nutrient would be effective because there’s a body of evidence suggesting that it isn’t the alcohol which causes most of the damage but the fact that alcoholic mothers also eat very little and use other drugs while drinking. There was an interesting study done a few years back that compared pregnancy outcomes between US women (non-drinkers) and UK women (all of whom had at least 1-2 drinks per week.) There was almost no difference in rates of FAS.
ChiLaura commented on Jun 24 09 at 11:37 amThank you, Knitty.
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