Researchers completely made up claim about men’s drinking before conception

Enlarge / Man sips a beer. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

To reduce the risk of having a baby with a congenital heart defect, men should avoid drinking alcohol for at least six months prior to fertilization. At least, that's the claim that researchers made in a press release last week. It's the same claim that multiple news outlets dutifully parroted in startling headlines and stories about the researchers' study.

The problem is that the researchers' study does not support that claim. In fact, the question of whether six dry months before fertilization could reduce the risk of congenital heart defects wasn't addressed in the study. The researchers didn't even have the data to know if any fathers abstained from alcohol for that long prior to helping form a babby.

It seems that the now-widespread recommendation was merely the researchers' personal opinions, which were oddly included in the press release and don't appear to be based on any evidence from their study or otherwise.

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