A recent metastudy analyzing data from over 300,000 people has found that regular alcohol consumption by fathers before conception increases the risk of heart defects in babies by 44%. While it has long been known that illegal drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol during pregnancy can have a significant impact on the health of an unborn child, thousands of babies are still born in Germany each year with disabilities caused by these factors. Studies have also shown that substances from cosmetic products that interfere with the mother’s hormone balance can cause children to enter puberty prematurely. Researchers from the Xiangya School of Public Health, part of the Central South University, have now discovered that alcohol consumption by fathers can also have a negative impact on the health of their children.
The study was prompted by fetal alcohol syndrome, which causes a heart defect in one in four affected children, and which has not yet been proven to be caused by the mother’s alcohol consumption. To determine whether a father’s alcohol consumption before conception has an impact on the development of a heart defect in a baby, the Chinese scientists analyzed 55 studies from 1991 to 2019 for their metastudy published in the European Society of Cardiology. The results show that the risk of a heart defect in a baby increases by 44% if the father regularly drinks alcohol in the months before conception. Fathers who consume five or more drinks regularly increase the risk of a heart defect in their child by 52%. A drink is defined as the amount of alcohol contained in a 0.3 liter beer. Jiabi Qin explains that the scientists “observed a gradually increasing risk of congenital heart defects with increasing paternal alcohol consumption.” The data from the metastudy also show that maternal alcohol consumption increases the risk of a heart defect in the child by 16%.
The researchers emphasize that their study, like many in medicine, only shows a correlation and not a causal relationship. Therefore, they cannot yet explain why a father’s alcohol consumption often leads to heart defects in the child. It is possible that the genetic information contained in the sperm is damaged by alcohol consumption, as has already been shown with smoking. For this reason, the study authors advise “men and women who want to have children to abstain from alcohol consumption.” Alcohol consumption, especially binge drinking, is a highly dangerous behavior that not only increases the likelihood of a heart defect in the baby but also endangers the health of the expectant parents.
