Fetal alcohol exposure raises epilepsy risk--study
The condition is more likely to occur in young children or older adults above 65 but can be cured with appropriate medical treatment.
Study details
To reach this conclusion, researchers from the Queens University in Ontario, Canada, looked at 425 people aged between two and 49 who had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
The aim of the study was to determine a correlation between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and occurrences of epilepsy and seizures.
Outcome of the study
The researchers found that fetal alcohol exposure may damage parts of the developing brain associated with seizures, putting the baby at risk of epilepsy at a later stage.
Previous medical evidence shows that FASD causes attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, and poor coordination. The condition also exposes the children to a greater risk of alcoholism, drug abuse, and depression later in life.
In order to avoid such complications, pregnant women should not drink more than one or two units a week, experts recommend.
But to be on the safer side, they should avoid alcohol consumption in the first three months of pregnancy in particular.
Dr Dan Savage, a neuroscientist at the University of New Mexico, was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying, “This report builds on a growing body of evidence that maternal drinking during pregnancy may put a child at greater risk for an even wider variety of neurological and behavioral health problems than we had appreciated before.
“The consensus recommendation of scientists and clinical investigators, along with public health officials around the world, is very clear - a woman should abstain from drinking during pregnancy as part of an overall programme of good prenatal care.”
More research needed
The study, however, could not establish a direct cause and effect relationship between fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and epilepsy.
Therefore, there is a need to carry out further research to confirm the findings, the researchers said.
The study appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.