Alcohol Use May Affect Future Generations Pre-Conception

The environment in which a person lives, including their home, family, and community, influences their health.

Researchers examining these social determinants of health are exploring whether genetics or upbringing has a greater impact on an individual’s ability to combat disease.

I am a developmental physiologist researching how alcohol consumption impacts fetal development and long-term health.

While it’s well-known that a father’s alcohol abuse can adversely affect his children’s mental health and social development, it hasn’t been clear whether paternal drinking has lasting biological impacts on their physical health.

My lab’s recent study reveals that chronic alcohol use by both parents can have long-term effects on their offspring, accelerating aging and increasing susceptibility to diseases.

Impact of Alcohol Use Disorders on Health

The National Institutes of Health reports that nearly 11% of U.S. adults suffer from an alcohol use disorder. Excessive drinking leads to various health issues, such as liver disease, heart conditions, reduced cognitive function, and premature aging.

These health problems can be passed from parents to their children. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders encompass a variety of alcohol-induced physical, developmental, and behavioral issues that impact up to 1 in 20 school-aged children in the U.S.

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders often develop adult diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, at an earlier age. For individuals with these disorders, cardiovascular disease can start in adolescence, whereas it typically appears in the general population in their 40s and 50s.

Additionally, children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are more likely to be hospitalized and have a lifespan that is 40% shorter than those without these conditions.

Uncertainty Over Causes of Health Issues

However, it remains uncertain whether these health issues are due to life circumstances—people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders frequently have high rates of psychiatric disorders that contribute to stress, making them more vulnerable to aging and disease—or if their parents’ substance use has a direct, lasting negative impact on their health.

In other words, does a parent’s alcohol abuse before conception directly affect their child’s physical health and lifespan?

In our study, my colleagues and I utilized a mouse model to examine how alcohol consumption by the mother, father, or both parents around the time of conception impacts their offspring’s aging and risk of chronic disease. The mice had the freedom to decide when and how much alcohol to consume.

We discovered that alcohol consumption by both the father and mother leads to damaging changes in their offspring’s mitochondria. Mitochondria, often referred to as the cell’s powerhouses, play a crucial role in regulating aging and overall health. Similar to how a cellphone battery degrades over time, mitochondria also deteriorate, which impairs cells’ ability to repair damage and regulate metabolism.

Impact of Paternal Alcohol Consumption on Offspring’s Mitochondrial Health

Our experiments with mice reveal that a father’s alcohol consumption results in a mitochondrial dysfunction that begins during fetal development and continues into adulthood, leading to accelerated aging in the offspring.

For instance, paternal alcohol exposure led to a twofold increase in age-related liver disease, indicating that parental alcohol use—especially by the father—could significantly impact aging and the development of age-related diseases.

Notably, we found that the effects on the offspring were more severe when both parents consumed alcohol compared to just one. For example, when both parents drank, there was a threefold increase in age-related liver scarring.

Individuals with fetal alcohol syndrome face lifelong difficulties, including issues with hand-eye coordination and challenges with memory and attention.

Educational Strategies for Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Early educational interventions for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, such as using visual and auditory tools instead of printed materials, can offer additional structure to support learning.

While my team and I studied the effects of chronic alcohol exposure, we do not yet know if moderate alcohol consumption also leads to mitochondrial issues.

It is also unclear whether similar effects occur in people whose parents drank heavily but who were not diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Although the impact of paternal drinking on human embryonic development remains uncertain, emerging research suggests a possible connection.

The next step is to investigate whether interventions focused on improving mitochondrial health, such as exercise and specific diets, could enhance health outcomes for individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Read the original article on: Science Alert

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