Alcohol

Many people think alcohol is a stimulant, because it lowers inhibitions and impairs planning and judgment. However, alcohol actually acts as a depressant, slowing down central nervous system and brain functioning.

There are two types of alcohol in common use. Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is present in beer, wine, spirits and liqueurs. Methyl alcohol, or methanol, is completely different: it is a poison and should never be consumed. It is found in solvents, paint removers, antifreeze and other household and industrial chemical products. Ethyl alcohol can also be toxic in large doses.

Ethyl, or beverage, alcohol is the most popular drug in Alberta. About four out of five people over the age of 15 drink alcohol to some extent. Whether they drink beer, wine or spirits, the basic ingredient (ethyl alcohol) is the same. A 12-ounce (340 ml) bottle of beer, a five-ounce (140 ml) glass of wine, or a standard shot (1.5 ounces or 42 ml) of spirits, such as whiskey or rum, all have the same amount of alcohol.

Effects on mothers’ health

High alcohol consumption is linked to increased risk of clinical depression and anxiety symptoms for women who have given birth. However, the nature of these risks may change as a woman gets older. The relationship between high alcohol consumption and symptoms of depression or anxiety may also be affected by factors such as low income and smoking.

Effects on women's health

Generally, the same amount of alcohol affects women more than it does men. Women are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol than men are, and women experience its harmful medical complications in a shorter period of time. For example, women tend to develop liver disease, heart disease and decreased brain volume after fewer years of heavy drinking.

Women who consume as few as two drinks per day have a greater risk of developing high blood pressure. With as few as two or three drinks a day, a woman is at increased risk of dying from liver disease, injury or cancer. Alcohol is known to be a risk factor for cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx, and increasing levels of alcohol consumption increase head and neck cancer risk. Women who consume four or more drinks per day are at increased risk of stroke.

Higher levels of alcohol consumption may have negative effects on a woman’s menstrual cycle. She may have more painful, heavy or irregular periods as a result. Heavy alcohol consumption can be harmful to a woman’s reproductive health, and may cause problems such as ovarian shrinkage or abnormal function, endometriosis (cysts outside the uterus), infertility and sexual dysfunction.

Effects during conception

Emerging evidence from animal and human studies suggests that the father’s drinking before conception and at the time of conception may also have adverse effects on fetal development.

Effects during pregnancy

Drinking while pregnant harms the developing fetus. Much research is being done, but to date there is still no known safe level of alcohol consumption for pregnant women. Most doctors and researchers believe it is safest not to drink while pregnant.

It is not clear whether a child’s health problems are caused directly by a mother’s use of alcohol during pregnancy or in combination with other factors including

• poor nutritional habits 
• smoking
• using other drugs
• using more than one drug
• sleep problems
• a mother's general health prior to pregnancy
• genetics
• how much alcohol, tobacco or other drugs are consumed during pregnancy
• at what stage in the pregnancy a substance is consumed
• how long the substance has been used

The effects of alcohol have been difficult to study in isolation because these other factors also affect pregnancy. However, it is safest to avoid using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs during pregnancy.

A growing fetus is exposed to alcohol that is passed from the mother through the placenta. Because the liver of a fetus is underdeveloped, it cannot break down the alcohol as quickly or adequately as a fully developed liver can. As a result, the fetus is exposed to alcohol for longer periods of time, and developing organs may be harmed by this long-term exposure.

Any harm done to the fetus as a result of drinking during pregnancy cannot be reversed, but reducing or eliminating alcohol intake at any time during pregnancy is healthiest for the fetus. It is never too late to quit or cut down on drinking.

Effects during birth

Pregnant women who consume 10 or more drinks per week, or one to two drinks per day, are at higher risk of premature labour and delivery than women who rarely drink.

Use of alcohol during pregnancy has been related to miscarriage or stillbirth.

Even one drink per day is associated with slower fetal growth and lower birth weight.

Effects on breastfeeding

The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends that mothers who drink only occasionally should still breastfeed their children. However, breastfeeding is not recommended for women who regularly consume more than a moderate amount of alcohol (more than two drinks per day).

Infants who are regularly exposed to alcohol in their mother’s breast milk may have more difficulty in learning to co-ordinate their movement, and in developing their mental abilities. In addition, infants tend to have less restful sleep and sleep for shorter periods of time after consuming breast milk containing alcohol.

Nursing mothers who consume alcohol tend to produce less milk. The infant may feed more frequently, but ingests less milk. Alcohol consumption also affects breastfeeding women by increasing the fat content of breast milk, and by reducing production of luteinizing hormone (responsible for maintaining hormonal balance of estrogen and progesterone in the body), oxytocin and prolactin (therefore limiting milk ejection) and lactose (a sugar found in breast milk). It is still unclear what level of alcohol consumption causes these changes in mothers or infants.

Effects on child development

Early development

The short-term effects of maternal drinking during pregnancy on newborns may include withdrawal symptoms such as sleeplessness, irritability, diarrhea, vomiting, breathing problems, seizures and lack of sucking during breastfeeding. Even modest alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to developmental and behavioural difficulties in infants.

Long-term development

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), partial fetal alcohol syndrome (p-FAS), fetal alcohol effects (FAE), alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) and alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) are all terms used to describe the physical and mental difficulties a child exposed to alcohol before birth may experience. These difficulties are permanent and do not go away or change; they last an entire lifetime. Health Canada states that heavier drinking like binge drinking (consuming five drinks or more per occasion) or frequent drinking (consuming seven or more drinks per week) during pregnancy is linked to both FAS and FAE.

Prenatal alcohol exposure, particularly binge drinking, is linked to some psychiatric disorders and symptoms in early adulthood, even in adults who do not meet the diagnostic criteria for FASD.

Children exposed to alcohol before birth (even in light to moderate amounts) may have intellectual, behavioural, emotional or social problems that persist throughout their entire lives. These children may have

• mental difficulties
• problems with attention span, learning, memory, problem solving and reading
• poor judgment or failure to consider consequences
• destructive, aggressive, inattentive, nervous or overactive behaviour
• trouble with the law
• a tendency to develop their own alcohol or other drug problems

Physically, alcohol-exposed children may exhibit problems with co-ordination, movement, vision and hearing, and may have birth defects that include

• bone and muscle deformities
• heart defects
• other deformities of the face or head
• kidney and organ problems

Any exposure to marijuana in combination with alcohol in the first trimester is associated with shorter stature in childhood.

There is no known safe level of alcohol consumption for pregnant women. No alcohol during pregnancy is best.