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 When fathers do drink in the three months prior to conception,
babies are 44% more likely to have congenital heart defects than
when they don't, the study found. And when fathers had drinking
binges - more than five drinks on a single occasion - babies were
52% more likely to have heart defects.
When mothers drank during that pre-conception period or during the
first three months of pregnancy, babies had a 16% increased risk of
congenital heart defects. The increased risk was similar if mothers
were binge drinkers.
"Binge drinking by would-be parents is a high risk and dangerous
behavior that not only may increase the chance of their baby being
born with a heart defect, but also greatly damages their own
health," said Jiabi Qin, senior author of the study and a researcher
at Xiangya School of Public Health at Central South University in
Changsha, China.
The study results suggest that men should stop drinking alcohol at
least six months before trying to conceive, and that women should
stop at least one year before trying to have a baby, Qin said in a
statement.
Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects and a
leading cause of infant deaths late in pregnancy and in the first
weeks of life, researchers note in the European Journal of
Preventive Cardiology. These defects involve structural
abnormalities in the heart that can increase the risk of
cardiovascular disease later in life even when children have surgery
to correct the defects.
While some previous research has linked parental drinking prior to
conception and during pregnancy to an increased risk of congenital
heart defects, results have been mixed and focused mainly on
mothers, not fathers, the study team notes.
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For the current study, researchers analyzed data from 55 previous
studies that included a total of 41,747 babies with congenital heart
defects plus a total of 297,587 infants without these defects.
Mothers' drinking might contribute to genetic changes in babies that
cause heart defects, some previous research suggests. While this
might also be true for fathers, less is known about the association
between paternal drinking and birth defects, the study team notes.
One limitation of the analysis is that the included studies weren't
designed to test for differences in the risk of heart defects for
paternal versus maternal alcohol consumption, said Dr. Thomas Zegkos,
coauthor of an accompanying editorial and a cardiologist at AHEPA
University Hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Even so, there are plenty of good reasons for men and women to cut
back on drinking when trying to conceive, Zegkos said by email.
"This study also confirms that even low amounts of alcohol confer an
increased risk for congenital heart defects," Zegkos said.
"Therefore, alcohol abstinence is advised before conception and
during pregnancy," Zegkos added. "If a complete abstinence is not
feasible then a strategy that 'lower consumption is better' should
be implemented."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2MssPTR and https://bit.ly/2MnRqJI European
Journal of Preventive Cardiology, online October 3, 2019.
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