Drinking Moms Damage Baby's Nerves
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"Infants born to mothers who drink heavily during
pregnancy are known to
be at risk for mental retardation and birth defects. This is the first study to show that these
infants may suffer peripheral nerve damage as well." (Duane Alexander, MD,
Director, National Institute of Child Health)
Background: The term "peripheral nerve damage" (also called peripheral neuropathy) describes a problem with the functioning of the nerves
outside of the spinal cord. The symptoms of
peripheral nerve damage may include numbness, weakness, and burning pain
(especially at night). The pain may be severe and disabling. There are many
causes of peripheral neuropathy. Maternal alcohol intake is another one, and a tragic one.
Barbara K. Hecht,
Ph.D.
Frederick Hecht, M.D.
Medical Editors, MedicineNet.com
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New Study Finds 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 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 reexamined 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 appears in the March issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.
"Infants born to mothers who drink 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.
Source: National Institutes of Health press release, March 8, 2004
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