Male Alcohol Consumption Also Negatively Affects Fetal Development... Possibility of Congenital Diseases

BBC "Multiple Related Studies Reported"
However, Female Drinking Has More Fatal Effects

A study has found that men's drinking can also negatively affect fetal health.

On the 1st (local time), the British BBC reported that numerous studies have shown that male drinking negatively impacts fetal development.

According to a 2021 study analyzing over 500,000 couples in China, if the man drank alcohol before pregnancy, the fetus was more likely to be born with congenital diseases such as heart disease, cleft palate, or digestive tract abnormalities, even if the woman did not drink.

In particular, cleft palate was found in 105 out of 164,151 children of men who drank alcohol. This is 1.5 times higher than the probability when the man did not drink.

Another study compared 5,000 children with congenital heart disease and 5,000 without. The results showed that if the man consumed more than 50 ml of alcohol daily during the three months before pregnancy, the child was nearly three times more likely to have congenital heart defects.

Last month, a research team administered alcohol to laboratory mice to examine physical abnormalities related to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The mice were divided into groups where only the pregnant female mice were given alcohol, only the male mice were given alcohol, and both parents were given alcohol.

As a result, offspring of female mice that consumed alcohol during pregnancy showed some symptoms of FASD, such as abnormalities in jaw or tooth spacing, eye size, and eye spacing. These symptoms were more pronounced when the male mice consumed alcohol, which is a symptom of FASD. It was also confirmed that the facial shape of male mice changed depending on the amount of alcohol consumed.

The research team explained, "Men's drinking does not affect their children in a simple 'yes' or 'no' manner, but rather has a stepwise effect where the more alcohol the man drinks, the worse the outcome."

However, the research team emphasized that it remains true that women's drinking is more fatal to fetal health than men's.

Elizabeth Elliott, a pediatrician at the University of Sydney in Australia, said, "Since alcohol in a woman's bloodstream is directly transmitted to the fetus through the placenta, it directly affects development," adding, "It affects the brain and parts of the brain that determine facial development and can cause negative effects on all organs including the lungs, heart, ears, and eyes."