40 Alcohol
height. Such children may be more impulsive and aggressive. A study of ad-
olescents compared two groups, one born with FAS and another whose moth-
ers drank little or no alcohol during pregnancy. The FAS group showed
impairment in some types of memory, attention, thinking, and learning—find-
ings supported by other research as well. Some researchers believe that fetal
exposure to alcohol has more to do with teenage drinking than family envi-
ronment does. Comparing adults with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure to
those without such exposure, a small study measured significant psychiatric
differences, particularly with the alcohol subjects being more depressed and
fearful.
Fetal damage from maternal alcohol use is unquestionable, but the amount
of use necessary to cause damage is less certain and can be affected by a
woman’s general physical condition and lifestyle (including nutrition and
other drug usage). Occasional binge drinking and routine heavy drinking are
certainly hazardous to fetal development, but for many years pregnant women
have used alcohol in moderation without apparent effect on offspring. None-
theless, in general, women are now advised to avoid any alcohol consumption
during pregnancy.
Experimenters note that alcohol consumption reduces mothers’ milk pro-
duction but does not affect energy provided by the milk. Alcohol levels in
milk are similar to a mother’s blood levels. A nursing infant may be sickened
by milk from a mother who abuses alcohol—an infant has not yet developed
the proper body chemistry to break down alcohol, so a dose lasts longer in
an infant than in an older child or adult.
Additional information.Beverage alcohol is a powerful intoxicant. Alcohol
is also probably the most familiar drug, used so freely that many persons
regard it solely as a beverage rather than as a drug. Indeed, for many years
excessive drunkenness was considered a moral failing rather than a disease,
and not until the 1950s was alcoholism officially recognized as an affliction
appropriate for medical treatment.
By the 1800s drunkenness had become a major public concern in the United
States. Temperance societies, organizations whose members pledged to avoid
beverage alcohol and to discourage consumption by other persons, became
politically powerful. Before the Civil War such groups had been able to get
laws passed outlawing the sale of beverage alcohol in various communities
and sometimes throughout entire states. Shortly after World War I this agi-
tation culminated in the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, giving the federal government power to ban manufacture and
sale of beverage alcohol. Although purchase and consumption remained legal,
the majority of Americans became so displeased with Prohibition that the
Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution was passed in the 1930s repeal-
ing the earlier one.
Additional scientific information may be found in:Chasan-Taber, L. et al. “A Prospective Study of Alcohol Consumption and Cataract
Extraction among U.S. Women.”Annals of Epidemiology10 (2000): 347–53.
Curtis, K.M, D.A. Savitz, and T.E. Arbuckle. “Effects of Cigarette Smoking, Caffeine