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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
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Fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS is a condition that results from exposure to alcohol on the womb. If a woman drinks during her pregnancy, she is more likely to have a baby that has this condition. The changes you get from this syndrome are irreversible and can lead to serious mental, physical and behavioral/emotional problems that are long-lasting and usually permanent. The problems the child gets from fetal alcohol syndrome vary from child to child, depending on the timing and length of exposure. About 40,000 babies are born every year with some kind of alcohol-related issue each year in the US.
Fetal alcohol syndrome isn't just a single birth defect. It happens to be a cluster of related issues that are collectively known as fetal alcohol syndrome. There are many different symptoms that need medical supervision and intervention early in life in order to make sure there can be help as early as possible.
The signs and symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome include mental retardation (completely preventable), distinctive facial features which include thin upper lip, small eyes, upturned nose and a lack of a philtrum, the groove between the nose and the upper lip. There can be heart defects, slow growth before birth and after birth, joint deformities, hearing or vision problems, microcephaly (small brain and head), poor coordination, sleep difficulties, learning disorders and behavior suggestive of ADHD or other attention disorder.
You should see a doctor if you have a drinking problem and are pregnant. Quit drinking as soon as you know you are pregnant and, if you can't, you should seek medical help to encourage you to stop drinking as soon as you can. Listen to the doctor about the effects of fetal exposure to alcohol and the effects to the baby later in life. Fetal alcohol syndrome is irreversible, so your attempts to quit drinking are the only way to make sure your baby doesn't have fetal alcohol syndrome.
If you have adopted a child who has signs and symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome and don't know the child's birth history, seek medical advice so the signs and symptoms can be put together to make a diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome.
The cause of fetal alcohol syndrome is drinking alcohol in pregnancy. The alcohol enters the bloodstream of the baby by crossing through the placenta. The fetus metabolizes alcohol more slowly that does the adult and the alcohol interferes with the delivery of oxygen and nutrition to the baby's organs and brain.
Fetal alcohol syndrome is dose-dependent. This means that you will have an increased amount of damage directly related to the amount and frequency of drinking alcohol during the pregnancy. Overall, however, there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink during pregnancy. Alcohol can affect the brain of the fetus at any point in the pregnancy. A lot of the facial features, however, come about as a result of drinking alcohol during the first trimester of the pregnancy. This is the time when the woman is least likely to know she was pregnant.
Doctors cannot diagnose fetal alcohol syndrome until after the baby is born. Doctors look at facial features and development to determine the likelihood that a person has fetal alcohol syndrome. Before birth, the doctors can only calculate the risk of developing the syndrome in the baby. Doctors do an assessment of the baby's growth, the presence of heart defects, facial features, vision, hearing, motor skills, behavior, language development and cognitive ability. A genetics specialist might need to be involved to make sure there are no genetic anomalies. If one child in the family has known fetal alcohol syndrome, then other children in the family should be assessed for the same condition.
There is no specific cure for fetal alcohol syndrome. The physical appearance changes last a lifetime and the mental deficits are permanent. If the child has a heart condition, this can be treated through surgery. Special services for learning and mental deficits can be undertaken early in life in order to maximize the child's lifetime potential.