The partners of men who consume 10 or more alcoholic drinks per week at the time of conception are more likely to miscarry than women whose partners did not drink alcohol at all, according to a study published in the Oct. 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, Reuters Health reports. Dr. Tine Brink Henriksen of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and colleagues studied 430 couples ages 20 to 35 who were attempting a first pregnancy. The researchers studied each couple until a clinically recognized pregnancy occurred or for six menstrual cycles. During the study period, there were 186 pregnancies, 55 of which ended in miscarriage, according to Reuters Health. Women who reported consuming 10 or more drinks per week at the time of conception were almost three times as likely to experience a miscarriage as women who had not consumed any alcoholic beverages during the conception period. The partners of men who consumed 10 or more alcoholic drinks per week at the time of conception were five times as likely to miscarry as women whose partners did not drink any alcohol, according to the researchers.

Recommendations
Although physicians typically advise women attempting to become pregnant to avoid drinking alcohol, the study findings suggest that their male partners also should be advised to eschew alcohol during this time, Reuters Health reports. "It was quite surprising that we found such a strong association; no study has ever been able to show this previously," Henriksen said. The reason for the association between men's drinking and miscarriage in their partners is not clear. However, some studies have shown that alcohol consumption is associated with chromosomal abnormalities in sperm cells, which many miscarried fetuses have, according to Reuters Health. Henriksen called for more research to replicate the team's findings and investigate further the impact of "male exposures on early pregnancy outcome or infertility problems" (Huggins, Reuters Health, 10/18).