Gaby
A team at Texas A&M University in the U.S. has uncovered how a man’s alcohol use before conception affects fetal development.
When diagnosing infants with birth defects, doctors traditionally focus on the mother’s drinking. Most overlook how the father’s health and lifestyle can affect the child’s development.
In 1981, the U.S. Surgeon General warned that drinking alcohol during pregnancy causes physical and mental birth defects. That warning reflected scientific recognition that a group of severe physical and cognitive disorders—fetal alcohol syndrome—correlates with maternal drinking during pregnancy. Yet doctors have documented cases of children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome whose mothers denied drinking while pregnant.
A research team led by physiology professor Michael Golding set out to clarify this. Their work, for the first time, shows that a man’s alcohol use before his partner’s pregnancy is a likely factor in craniofacial anomalies and developmental disorders in the child.
What the Researchers Discovered
So the team focused on men’s alcohol use in the weeks and months before conception, as reported by Science Alert.
Alcohol is often social, so when women drink, their male partners often drink too. With that in mind, Golding’s lab aimed to determine what happens to the child if the mother, the father, or both parents drink before conception.
Fetal alcohol syndrome is associated with three main birth defects: facial anomalies, reduced head and brain growth, and fetal growth restriction.
By analyzing previous studies on humans and mice, the researchers used facial-recognition software to examine how parental drinking before conception affected offspring appearance.
They found that chronic alcohol use by men severely disrupts the formation of the child’s skull and face. The team also observed microcephaly—that is, underdevelopment of the head and brain. They noted another trend with birth weight: the more alcohol the father consumed, the lower the child’s weight.
The researchers concluded that chronic alcohol use by men — defined as more than five drinks within a four-hour window — can lead to all three main birth defects associated with fetal alcohol syndrome.
They also found that craniofacial changes persist as the child grows, including abnormal tooth positioning, a recognized symptom of fetal alcohol syndrome.
The study also confirmed a direct impact of alcohol on male fertility and on a couple’s ability to conceive. These findings could be especially useful for young couples trying to start a family.
