Alcoholism at Large

Alcohol and pregnancy: a bad mix
A recent study in Chile has shown that women who drink heavily during pregnancy are very likely to have a child with abnormalities. “Even more concerning is that functional central nervous system abnormalities were the most common problem in children heavily exposed to alcohol in utero,” says Devon Kuehn, corresponding author for the study. “Therefore the most common effects on the child will impact learning, behavior, language, or mental function. For clinicians working with women of childbearing age, the key message would be to counsel these women that binge drinking and total intake are important risk factors for the outcome of their child and that daily heavy drinking will most likely result in an adverse outcome in their child.”