Mothers drinking alcohol during pregnancy put their babies at risk of 428 different diseases

According to a new study, mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy might put their babies at a risk of 428 different diseases.

All the diseases identified by the Canadian researchers link to Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). It is a broad term that described the debilitating conditions that can occur in individuals if they are exposed to alcohol before birth.

The diseases and conditions listed under FASD affect almost all human body systems, including muscoloskeletal, circulatory, cardiac, respiratory and digestive systems, in addition to vision and hear loss.

Lead author of the study published in the journal Lancet, Lana Popova, says that their study confirms that it is not safe to drink any amount of or any form of alcohol during pregnancy. The research team identified the 428 conditions by conducting a review of 127 different studies that took place previously, reports The Economic Times.

The severity of the symptoms associated with the diseases under FASD depends on several factors. For example, the level of alcohol consumption by the mother during pregnancy, stress levels, environmental influences, nutrition, genetics and the ability of the body to break down alcohol are some of the factors that influence that makes FASD symptoms vary from person to person.

The Times of India reports that the researchers also conducted a review of 33 studies representing 1,728 individuals with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). The team was able to conduct a meta analysis to find out the frequency with which 183 conditions occur among those individuals. FAS is considered to be one of the most severe forms of FASD.

The team found that around 8 in every 10 individuals had problems with communication, 7 in 10 had developmental disorders, more than 90 percent faced problems with conduct and more than 50 percent showed hyperactivity and attention problems.

"The issue is that the underlying cause of the problem, alcohol exposure before birth, may be overlooked by the clinician and not addressed. Newborns should be screened for prenatal alcohol exposure, especially among populations at high risk," said Popova, in a statement.