Women, Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, Children and Alcohol

Women and Alcohol

Women, more likely than men, drink to relive anxiety or depression ^[1].

Women may have about 30% higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) after drinking the same amount of alcohol than men of the same body weight ^[2]. Menstrual cycle does not significantly affect the absorption or elimination of alcohol ^[3]. Women eliminate alcohol at about the same rate as men of the same body weight ^[3].

Moderate Drinking

Moderate drinking in women is defined as 1 drink per day, which is one 12 oz can of beer (4% abv), one 5 oz glass of wine (12% abv) or one 1.5 oz jigger of spirit (40% abv or 80 proof).

Moderate drinking is associated with reduced risk of osteoporosis in women after menopause ^[4].

According to several observational studies, even moderate drinking may increase the risk of breast cancer in women ^[7].

Effects of Heavy Drinking

Heavy drinking may increase blood estrogen levels, which may result in irregular menstruation or infertility ^[5].

Acute alcohol intoxication increases the blood levels of the hormone testosterone in women ^[6].

Alcohol and Pregnancy

Does alcohol affect the pregnancy test?

No, alcohol and illegal drugs do not affect pregnancy tests ^[22].

Breastfeeding, Alcohol and Infants

Doctors usually do not prohibit moderate drinking (up to 1 drink per day) during the breastfeeding period ^[12]. A mother who had 1 alcoholic drink should not breastfeed a baby for 2 to 3 hours afterwards, because this is the time in which the alcohol from 1 drink is eliminated from the breast milk ^[13,14]. Pumping and dumping does not speed up alcohol elimination from the breast milk ^[12]. The concentration of alcohol in breast milk is about the same as in the blood ^[15-p.387]. In one study, the average concentration of alcohol in the breast milk after drinking about 1.5 drink was 0.03 g/100 mL of milk ^[17].

In 2 studies in which mothers drank 1 drink (beer or ethanol added to orange juice) before breastfeeding, their babies drank about 20% less milk in average ^[17,18]. According to another 2 studies showed that when mothers drank alcohol before breastfeeding, infants fell asleep sooner, but slept for shorter periods of time and more often during the day than when mothers did not drink ^[17,19].

Excessive drinking during breastfeeding may be harmful or even life dangerous for the infant!

• A 5-week-old infant who was breastfed by a heavy drinking mother had been sleepless and had developed seizures; 3 days after stopping breastfeeding, the infant started to sleep calmly ^[36].
• The infant of the mother who has drunk 750 mL of port wine over the 24 hours was unable to arouse and to suck the milk, was sweating excessively and has weak pulse ^[36].
• One Russian mother drank 1 liter of port wine during breastfeeding her 14-day-old son. The infant died thereafter; his blood alcohol concentration was 0.04 g/100 mL ^[20].
• Another Russian mother drank 50 g of wine and 1.5 liters of beer while breastfeeding her newborn son. The infant died; his blood alcohol concentration was 0.04 g/100 mL ^[21].

Children, Teenagers and Alcohol

Small children may get intoxicated by drinking alcoholic beverages, alcohol-containing medicinal syrups, mouthwash, perfumes or after-shave lotions.

Adolescents seem to be less sensitive to depressant and other unpleasant effects of alcohol, including hangover and withdrawal symptoms ^[23,25]; however, they, in average, experience more blackouts after heavy drinking than adults ^[26].

Adolescents who drink are more likely to have problems in school, engage in a risky sexual behavior, be involved in fights, traffic accidents or be victims of robbery or rape ^[27].

Teenagers who start to drink at early age or have a habit of binge drinking are at increased risk to become alcohol dependent later in life ^[23,27]. Teenagers who start to drink before age of 15 are at several times increased risk to develop alcohol dependence later in life than those who start to drink after age 21 ^[29].

Preschool children may eliminate alcohol at the rate up to 0.030 g/100 mL/hour, probably due to greater liver/body weight ratio ^{[15-p.386; 28,30]}; the elimination rate in young adolescents and non-alcoholic adults is about 0.015 g/100 mL hour ^[30,31]. Infants eliminate alcohol at half the rate of adults ^[14].

In small children who have not eaten for few hours, even small amounts of alcohol may cause hypoglycemia ^[28].

Typical symptoms of alcohol poisoning in children are coma, hypoglycemia, hypothermia and seizures, which may occur when blood alcohol concentration exceeds 0.05-0.1 g/100 mL ^[28,32].

Heavy alcohol drinking during adolescence may cause a brain damage that can result in lower attention span in males and impaired visuo-spatial cognition (drawing, puzzles) in females ^[33].

Signs of excessive drinking in teenagers

• Staying out late, alcohol in the breath
• Joining to a new groups of friends
• Poor performance in school, lost interest for hobbies
• Frequent mood changes
• Defensive behavior
• Reference: ^[24,34]