Study reveals drinking alcohol even at conception damages placenta development

June 12, 2019  09:36

It turns out that drinking alcohol even at conception damages placenta development, EurekAlert reported.

"We found early alcohol exposure reduced blood vessel formation in the placenta, and this led to fewer nutrients being delivered to the embryo," said Kalisch-Smith from the University of Queensland in Brisbane (Australia).

Experiments on rodents showed that drinking a small amount of alcohol four days before or after conception adversely affects the development of the placenta. Thus, a slowdown in the growth of its vessels was found by about a third, and a 17% reduction in its total size. This led to a decrease in nutrient levels and adversely affected the development of the fetus.

According to scientists, this process explains why babies who drink during the pregnancy of mothers at birth can have a small height. Meanwhile, small growth in infants is directly related to diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

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