Drinking during pregnancy can seriously harm a baby's brain, yet thousands of mothers-to-be still do. Now scientists have begun testing whether a prenatal nutrient might offer those babies a little protection, part of a growing quest for ways to reverse the damage.
The only help today: intense behavioral or educational therapies once children with fetal alcohol-caused disabilities reach preschool or school age, says new research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency is spending $1.5 million this year to start spreading those programs.
Better would be discovering a way to short-circuit what scientists now know is a complex chain reaction of toxicity that even moderate drinking during pregnancy -- and especially a binge -- can trigger in a baby's developing brain.
Don't misunderstand: This is not a hunt for a pill to allow women to drink. Even if scientists eventually find a treatment, one medication could never cover all the ways that alcohol harms.
"There's not going to be a single treatment that's going to be a panacea," cautions Dr. Jennifer Thomas of San Diego State University, whose animal research sparked interest in the nutrient choline, found in such foods as eggs and liver.
But, "there's heightened interest now since despite our best efforts, we haven't eliminated drinking in pregnancy and haven't made a huge dent in it," adds Dr. Christina Chambers of the University of California, San Diego. She is overseeing the first clinical trial -- aiming to test 600 pregnant women in Ukraine -- to see if prenatal choline might help.
Full-blown fetal alcohol syndrome -- a combination of brain, facial and growth abnormalities -- is considered a leading preventable cause of mental retardation. There isn't a good count, but the CDC estimates that anywhere from 1,000 to 6,000 U.S. babies a year are born with it.
Thomas' group tested choline, a precursor to a brain chemical that plays a key role in learning. She exposed pregnant rats to alcohol during a third-trimester spurt of brain growth. Giving the mother rats extra choline -- or, importantly, giving newborn pups the nutrient -- significantly improved the pups' later ability to learn.
On to humans: The study in Ukraine is recruiting women who acknowledge drinking while pregnant. They'll be counseled to stop, and then randomly assigned to take either a standard Ukrainian vitamin supplement every day, or that vitamin plus 750 milligrams of choline -- more than the 450 mg pregnant women are advised to get from food. About 120 women have been enrolled so far, and researchers expect preliminary results within a year.
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