7 Important Facts

In a study of 136,000 adults, moderate drinking was associated with a risk of breast cancer in women (Reinberg One 1). In a study done by Nurses’ Health Study, ir can be seen that in 88,000 women a total risk for alcohol related cancers ranged from 1.04 in moderate intake and 1.30 with heavy intake, and in 48,000 men the risk of alcohol related cancers was 1.26 with moderate intake and 1.62 in heavy intake. During 30 years of the study 22 percent of the women and 15 percent of the men ended up developing some type of cancer (Duke Medicine Health News 1). Another risk is gastrointestinal bleeding, and those who drink moderately into older age seem to be statistically healthier than those who do not drink any alcohol at all. However, these people are less likely to have these problems than those who drink soda (Healthy Years 2). People should weigh the benefits of drinking in moderation to the negative effects it could potentially cause and adjust their diets accordingly to their

The fetus is not the only one harmed by alcohol consumption during pregnancy, but the mother is as well. In fact, many doctors urge women who think they are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant to stop drinking (“Fetal Alcohol”). “One percent of all mothers consume fourteen or more drinks per week during the three months before pregnancy” (Walsh 3). To the average person one percent is not too large of a proportion. However, the volume of alcohol consumed is high during

In the article, “Is Drinking Alcohol While Pregnant an Unnecessary Risk to Prenatal Development,” Phyllida Brown believes that drinking is bad for pregnant women and can put the baby at risk for Fetus Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) (76). She supports her claim by providing follow-ups on children whose mother consumed alcohol during pregnancy. The children whose mother consumed alcohol, tend to be more aggressive and had a hard time focusing compared to children whose mother didn’t consume alcohol. Some physical traits that children with FAS have are thin lips and tend to be smaller than the average kid (Brown 76). Brown also supports her argument by using a counterargument about how some women claims that it is okay to drink wine or alcohol every once

There is never a safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed during pregnancy. If a pregnant woman consumes any percent of alcohol, so does her unborn child which can lead to major defects in the mother fetus. Alcohol passes through the mother’s placenta into her bloodstream and goes straight into the baby, since the fetus cannot break down alcohol the way an adult can, the blood alcohol level will remain very high in the immature body of the fetus for a longer period of time, putting the baby in risk of fetal alcohol syndrome. Once alcohol enters the fetus many other damaging defects can occur. “Alcohol can trigger cell death, causing different parts of the fetus to develop abnormally along with the way nerve cells

Drinking during pregnancy can result in a miscarriage. A miscarriage is known as a pregnancy loss or a spontaneous abortion of the fetus before the 20th week. In general miscarriages are very common for women to have and the main cause of them is genetic abnormalities in the fetus, however alcohol consumption increases the chances of miscarriage. “Recent attention has focused on more moderate levels of

In a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study, 10.2% of pregnant women stated that they drank alcohol in various amounts during the last month, and 3.1% stated that they binge drank. Women who are in a committed relationship, including marriage, are at a higher risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy since they tend to be less likely to use contraception. Also, women who smoke are at a higher risk because they are more likely to consume alcohol if they smoke. In a current study, 3.3 million women between the ages of 15 and 44 stated that they had drank alcohol in the last month and had sexual intercourse without using protection. All 3.3 million women are at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy. Since about half of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, the best time to talk to women about the consequences of their alcohol consumption to them and their baby is before they are pregnant. To help prevent a child from becoming permanently damaged, healthcare providers should talk to women about available contraception methods to prevent an unplanned pregnancy, and all of the possible defects they can cause a child due to an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (Green, McKnight, Lela, Tan, Mejia, & Denny.

Your baby is at risk no matter how much liquor you drink. It doesn’t matter if it’s beer, wine, or hard liquor. The chemicals in the liquor quickly pass through into the placenta, which means the baby absorbs as much

Alcohol is used is commonly used an integral part of many social gatherings and often accompanies many meals and is for the most part culturally sanctioned. Moderate use of alcohol is believed to have some positive qualities such as prolonging one’s life, reducing the risk of dementia, and provides some cardiovascular benefits (Lehne, 2013; Robbins & Cotran 2012). However, alcohol use during pregnancy in this day in age has been considered a taboo. Many women even have different views on drinking alcohol while being

The results from the study displayed that while a majority of mother did abstain from drinking by the first trimester as around 89% of mothers in the unplanned group and 85% of mothers in the planned pregnancies group did stop a majority of the number of mothers did continue to drink, Overall drinking throughout pregnancy around 25% of planned pregnancies 35% percent of unplanned pregnancies was reported to have had any were between one drink per week to 20 plus drinks per week. However, it should be noted that only 2 percent of non-planned pregnancies reported drinking this much alcohol.

Heavy drinking during a pregnancy can have a very serious effect on the unborn child and lead to a number of serious health problems. When drinking occurs during pregnancy the alcohol reaches the baby`s bloodstream via the placenta and even a very small amount of alcohol can damage the unborn child and larger amounts can significantly increase the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and foetal alcohol syndrome. This condition occurs in the feotus because the baby’s liver is not fully formed and it relies on the mother’s liver to break down the alcohol. Because alcohol only leaves the body / bloodstream at one unit an hour it places a heavy burden on the mother’s liver to remove the alcohol quickly. One average bottle of white wine can have approximately

Once a woman has the habit of drinking when she is not pregnant, even if the woman is pregnante, it is also hard to change her habit. “Approximately one-third of the children of chronically alcoholic mothers who were drink during pregnancy will probably have FAS characteristics, although the proportion will vary according to the chronicity of the alcoholism and the amount of exposure”(Streissguth, 1986, p.15). Therefore, if a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy, it can cause irreparable harm to the baby, and some of serious cases will cause miscarriage.

Women are different in how their bodies deal with alcohol, for example, women absorb alcohol into their bloodstream faster and metabolize it slower than men. Women who drink regularly are at significantly greater risk for liver damage than men even if they drink less or drink for a shorter period of time. To reduce many of these risks, drinking moderately is a great way to avoid some of these situations. Of course, not many people know what drinking moderately means which is at least 3-4 drinks for men and 2-3 drinks for women. The amount of alcohol in a beverage varies with beer being the lowest, then wine, and liquor being the

Although it is not stated, alcohol is known to have negative effects on an unborn fetus. Perhaps

Alcohol consumption during the fourth week of pregnancy can also be highly detrimental to the

Alcohol dependence has a much more pronounced medical effect on women than on men. Medical problems