The consequences of alcohol consumption can go way beyond the drinker's individual health. New studies say that excessive consumption may affect generations far into the future, even before it was conceived. Epigenetic inheritance indicates that gene expression is altered without changes in the DNA sequence itself and that the gene expression is inherited. Paternal alcohol exposure has been shown to affect the health and behaviour of the offspring; therefore, a change in practice regarding the long-term effects of alcohol intake is required.
Michael Golding, a Professor of Physiology at Texas A&M University, said in a release, "Although researchers have long recognised that a father's alcohol abuse negatively affects his children's mental health and social development, it hasn't been clear if paternal drinking has any lasting biological effects on his offspring's physical health.
"My lab's recently published research shows that chronic alcohol use from both parents has an enduring effect on the next generation by causing their offspring to age faster and become more susceptible to disease."
According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 11% of adults in the US have an alcohol use disorder. Heavy drinking causes multiple health issues, including liver disease, heart problems, declining cognitive function, and accelerated ageing.
Parents may pass these health problems on to their children. Foetal alcohol spectrum disorders refer to a wide range of alcohol-related physical, developmental, and behavioural deficits that affect as many as 1 in 20 US schoolchildren.
"Children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders experience an early onset of adult diseases, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Cardiovascular disease first appears during adolescence for people with these disorders, while the rest of the population is affected typically in their 40s and 50s."
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