Jl. Jacobson et al., INCREASED VULNERABILITY TO ALCOHOL-RELATED BIRTH-DEFECTS IN THE OFFSPRING OF MOTHERS OVER 30, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 20(2), 1996, pp. 359-363
The risk of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is known to increase with Inc
reased maternal age and parity. This study investigated the hypothesis
that the deficits in growth and intellectual function seen in non-FAS
infants exposed to alcohol at moderate-to-heavy levels are also found
disproportionately in the offspring of older mothers. Mothers of 480
African-American, inner-city infants were interviewed at each prenatal
clinic visit regarding their use of alcohol during pregnancy. Infants
were assessed for physical growth and cognitive development repeatedl
y through age 13 months. In analyses run separately for the infants of
younger and older mothers, alcohol-related deficits were seen most st
rongly in the offspring of women over 30 years of age. This pattern wa
s not caused by lower levels of drinking by the younger mothers. Age-r
elated increases in maternal body fat-to-water ratio and a faster rate
of alcohol metabolism in chronic drinking women may account for the g
reater vulnerability of the offspring of the older mothers. These data
suggest that physiological changes associated with aging and/or chron
ic drinking may play an important role in the alcohol-related birth de
fects seen in infants exposed at moderate-to-heavy levels.