Alcohol Intake During Pregnancy Boosts Cancer Risk in the Baby

Scientists urge to refrain from drinking alcohol during pregnancy.  Even in small doses alcohol is very dangerous for the health of the unborn baby. These are the conclusions of the research carried out by French and English scientists and published in the May issue of the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Leukemia is the kind of cancer that is most prevalent in children. Scientists give several reasons for that, genetic disposition among them, yet the research discovered a direct correlation between alcohol intake during pregnancy and a higher risk of cancer development in the child.

Lead researcher Dr. Paule Latino-Martel stressed that women shouldn’t drink alcohol when pregnant, for 21 tests confirmed the link between children diagnosed with leukemia and mothers admitting to drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

The statistics of alcohol intake during pregnancy show 12% in the United States, 30% in Sweden, 52% in France, 59$ in Australia and 60% in Russia. It’s a grave problem of our times. Many of them even suffer from alcohol addiction, which is, fortunately, treatable. One can find such options in Virginia.