Assignment Help | What types of abnormalities can be caused by alcohol, and how does genetics influence this?

A 23-year-old woman presents to the OB-GYN office you work in. She was recently surprised to learn that she is pregnant. She estimates that she is about 8 weeks along. She tells you that she regularly drinks on the weekends with her friends. She asks you, “Is that a problem? As long as I don’t drink very much, I can still have a drink occasionally while I’m pregnant, right?”

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In your initial post answer the following questions:

How would you answer her questions?
What types of abnormalities can be caused by alcohol, and how does genetics influence this?

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Genetic and Congenital Disorders

            My response to the 23-year-old woman would be that drinking while pregnant is a problem. I would explain to her that the first two weeks after fertilization may be safe to drink because alcohol content could not impact negatively on the zygote and developing blastocyst, as explained by Charness et al. (2016). However, now that she is eight weeks pregnant…

            Alcohol triggers different abnormalities on the developing embryo, and complications would occur during pregnancy. One of the abnormalities is fetal alcohol syndrome, which occurs when a pregnant woman consumes alcohol consistently during the pregnancy period (Nykjaer et al., 2014). The fetal alcohol syndrome, in turn, results in other abnormalities …

Genetics influence these abnormalities. For instance, alcohol, once consumed by a pregnant woman, interferes with the DNA leading to irreparable damage, which results in fetal defects. Charness et al. (2016) observe that cells are often protected from adverse effects of alcohol by certain enzyme generated by the Aldh2 gene. This gene destroys a toxic alcohol product known as the chemical acetaldehyde (Nykjaer et al., 2014). The damaging effects of alcohol on DNA also result in mutations and is attributed to acetaldehyde. Once DNA is damaged, it triggers the development of fetal …

References

Charness, M. E., Riley, E. P., & Sowell, E. R. (2016). Drinking during pregnancy and the developing brain: Is any amount safe? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(2), 80-82.

Nykjaer, C., Alwan, N. A., Greenwood, D. C., Simpson, N. A., Hay, A. W., White, K. L., & Cade, J. E. (2014). Maternal alcohol intake prior to and during pregnancy and risk of adverse birth outcomes: evidence from a British cohort. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 68(6), 542-549.