Prenatal alcohol exposure has effects far beyond fetal alcoho...( substantial effects on IQ among childr...),Health

substantial effects on IQ among children with ARND born to older or MAST-positive mothers, particularly in relation to first trimester drinking," said Jacobson. "When we looked specifically at the children born to women 30 years or older, we found an alcohol effect on Full Scale IQ and five of the seven composite IQ scores. Similarly, we found IQ effects in children born to MAST-positive mothers. For every two additional drinks consumed by the mother per day during pregnancy, we found a three-point decrease in Full Scale IQ and a five and a half point decrement on Freedom from Distractibility. These findings suggest that there are subgroups of more vulnerable and severely affected children with ARND, whose IQ scores and performance are compromised."

"Prior to this study," said Singer, "we had been unable to explain why children with similar prenatal alcohol exposure levels vary so much in the incidence and severity of negative outcomes, such as lower IQ and learning problems. This study shows that the wide variability in child outcomes is related to the fact that some children are more susceptible than others to the effects of alcohol exposure, namely, those whose mothers are older than 30 years, those whose mothers have alcohol dependence, those whose parents provide a less stimulating environment, and those whose mothers reported drinking during the time of conception. In fact, for those children, even when they do not have FAS, there are strongly negative effects of alcohol exposure on verbal IQ and working memory, both important for learning and school success."

Both Jacobson and Singer noted that one very important implication of these findings is that a moderate-to-heavy drinking mother who has given birth to an unaffected child when she was younger needs to be warned that, if she drinks while pregnant, her risk of having an adversely affected child increases as she grows older. This risk is also greater if she has a long-term drinking
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14-Nov-2004

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