Scientists uncover the surprising aftermath of casual drinking that people don't want
Researchers in California surveyed 2,200 young women, approximately 40 percent of whom explicitly said they did not want to get pregnant.
Of the women who said they did not want to become pregnant, about half were heavy drinkers, meaning they had at least four drinks during a night out.
The researchers found heavy drinkers were about 30 percent more likely to accidentally become pregnant compared to women who regularly used cannabis instead of drinking.
They were also more likely to get pregnant than their peers who consumed alcohol more sparingly or steered clear of it entirely.
The findings come as younger generations increasingly shun alcohol. However, binge drinking has increased specifically in Gen Z women in recent years.
Women are also having fewer children than ever before, citing high costs and a greater focus on building a career.
It's unclear exactly why drinkers are more likely to get pregnant accidentally, but researchers suggest it could be because drinking is more socially acceptable than using cannabis.
Alcohol is also thought to lower inhibitions more and lead to riskier behavior like unprotected sex than using cannabis.
The study, published last month in the journal Addiction, looked at 2,270 women enrolled at primary and reproductive health clinics in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas and Nevada.
Participants were between ages 15 and 34 and none of them were pregnant. All of them had had sex within the past three months.
Women completed quarterly surveys over one year about their demographics, substance use, pregnancy preference and pregnancy history.
Of the 2,270 participants, 936 said they did not want to get pregnant. Among them, 429 reported heavy alcohol use - four or more drinks in one occasion - and 362 said they regularly used cannabis.
Among cannabis users, 157 said they used it daily or almost daily.
Both heavy drinks and frequent cannabis users were more likely to report not wanting to get pregnant compared to those who drank lightly or not at all and those who didn't use cannabis.
Over the course of a year, 71 of the 936 women - seven percent - who didn't want to become pregnant ended up getting pregnant. And 38 of those pregnancies occurred in women who drank heavily.
This was more than the combined total pregnancies in women who drank moderately or didn't drink at all.
Meanwhile, 28 unintended pregnancies occurred in the cannabis group, showing a 30 percent increased risk in women who drank heavily compared to those who used cannabis.
Dr Sarah Raifman, lead study author and researcher at the University of California - San Francisco, said: 'This study made two important findings. First, non-pregnant women who drink heavily appear, on average, to have a higher desire to avoid pregnancy than those who drink moderately or not at all.
'Second, drinking heavily as opposed to moderately or not at all appears to put those who most want to avoid pregnancy at higher risk of becoming pregnant within one year.
'Finding out why those pregnancies happen is the next step in our research.'
It's unclear exactly what caused this increased risk, though the researchers speculated alcohol may be more likely to cause risky behaviors and forgetfulness, such as remembering to take birth control.
Alcohol is also more widely accepted and practiced than using marijuana and has more consistently been shown to lower inhibitions.
There were several limitations to the new study. Researchers wrote they were unable to precisely measure substance use over time, and it's possible participants underreported their usage.
Dr Raifman said: 'In the meantime, given the potentially life-altering effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders [which occur when a fetus is exposed to alcohol through the mother's drinking] and the fact that the risk of FASD increases with the amount and duration of the mother's drinking, it's important for doctors and clinicians to support women who drink heavily to stop drinking as soon as they suspect an unintentional pregnancy.'
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For instance, a 2019 study by the American Chemical Society showed that a super smeller could identify the 'musky' smell of Parkinson's disease from 64 sebum samples collected from people with and without the condition.' Michelle recently opened up about her talent on Reddit, where the post went viral, raking in more than 7,000 likes and hundreds of comments. In the comment section, some people confessed that they too have a similar ability, while others shared their experiences with friends or family members who seemed to be able to smell things about them. 'I was six weeks pregnant, hadn't told anyone at work and obviously wasn't showing,' one user wrote. 'My student comes up to me and whispers, "I just know you are pregnant, I can smell you."' 'My best friend can also smell pregnant women! So crazy,' added another. 'You're not alone. I smell everything so bloody strongly I want to cry just trying to walk through a subway tunnel downtown,' someone else shared. 'Some things are unmistakable smelling and a bit "louder" for me too - death, illness (diabetes, some cancers, anemia)... I've been able to smell pregnancy on myself before, and guessed it quickly on most others, but nothing I can identify I smelled for certain triggered that one. 'I stopped asking questions about the why's and the hows of it all, and started focusing on how to survive a commute without vomiting lol.' 'I can smell cancer and death. My grandmother died from cancer, and I never forgot the smell,' read a fourth comment. 'I've smelled cancer on other people's grandparents, a neighbor, my pet cat. I didn't realize it wasn't something that people couldn't regularly smell until recently. 'I can smell mild sickness before fever and symptoms set in. Like a stomach bug or flu, it's like the body is starting to sweat out what it can beforehand.'
