Alcohol, women and pregnancy( l alcohol exposure. Since many women o...)

l alcohol exposure. Since many women of childbearing age drink alcohol regularly, it is likely that some offspring are exposed to alcohol before pregnancy is detected. These are just some of the reasons for why I felt it was important to examine the effects of moderate drinking at different times during pregnancy."

Study subjects were rhesus monkey infants whose mothers consumed a moderate dose of alcohol either continuously or during the human equivalent of the first or last two trimesters of pregnancy. (Moderate drinking in humans is defined as 7 to 14 drinks per week, or 1 to 2 drinks per day.) Schneider explained that not only do primate studies allow greater generalization to humans than rodent studies because of similarly complex social and cognitive abilities and brain development, but they are also less complex than "real life." Among humans, she said, alcohol consumption can be confounded with cigarette smoking, less-than-adequate prenatal care, stress, and other drug use - all of which can have negative effects on fetal development. In addition, researchers can use adapted human tests such as the Brazelton Newborn Assessment Scale to assess early neurobehavior in monkeys.

"We found that early gestation alcohol exposure was related to noteworthy reductions in infant attention and motor maturity in rhesus monkeys," said Schneider. "Yet there were no significant growth impairments. Thus, it appears that behavioral effects can be detected under circumstances in which growth was not affected. We also found that early exposure was as harmful as exposure throughout pregnancy in these monkeys. To the extent that these data generalize to humans, it suggests that subtle neurodevelopmental effects could be induced before pregnancy is detected."

"There are at least four very important aspects to this research," noted Joanne Weinberg, professor of anatomy at the University of British Columbia. "The primate model is very powerful in
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14-Aug-2001

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