It has been debated for ages whether what a mother eats during pregnancy affects the fetus in any way. This debate has been especially vital when it comes to smoking and drinking during pregnancy. Doctors have often advised women to either quit or limit their alcohol intake when they are pregnant. This warning has been further stretched to limiting alcohol consumption when breast feeding too. However, recent studies have backed this advice and experts are now being very vocal in calling in to-be mothers to quit alcohol in order to reduce the risk of cancer among their offspring.
Latest studies show that daughters of mother who consumed alcohol during pregnancy are more likely to contract breast cancer when compared to daughters of mothers who didn’t drink. To prove this, tests were conducted on lad rats where pregnant rats were given varied levels of alcohol. After birth, the offspring were injected with cancer causing carcinogens and it was observed that offspring of rats that were given alcohol showed a higher rate of contracting the cancer. Obviously, no such research has been conducted on humans, t has been proved that consuming alcohol increases the level of estrogens in the body and this can lead to increased vulnerability to cancer. This also shows that a mother’s alcohol intake during pregnancy can increase the chances of her daughter contracting breast cancer when exposed to the relevant carcinogens.
Of all the cancer deaths in women, breast cancer is ranked second highest. With this new study to back up their claims, doctors and experts have renewed their appeal to women to abstain from alcohol consumption during pregnancy in order to protect their daughters from risk of breast cancer later on in life. With breast cancer cases rising each year, women can’t take enough measures to keep themselves safe. Abstaining from alcohol during pregnancy and lactation is a small sacrifice to make for the safety of your child from breast cancer.