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Effects of foetal alcohol syndrome on the foetus
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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
According to Seaver, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is birth defects causing learning, and behavioral problems in individuals whose mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy. This disorder is very serious, yet it is recognized as one of the most preventable. This causes major issues, when something so serious could be prevented but is not. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a problem because it leaves a permanent effect on the unborn child, but some solutions could be educating women and putting up more informational posters and warning labels on products.
As a result of pregnant women drinking, there have been a profuse amount of children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Armstrong and Abel confirm that it wasn’t until 1973 when it was discovered as a disorder. This shows that for decades prior, women that drank while pregnant were unaware of the dangers. Prior to this discovery there had been anti-drinking movements across the world, because it was believed that alcohol was the reason for the increase in poverty and crime, as pointed out by Armstrong and Abel. This helped in determining FAS as a disorder. There were two different events or problems in society that led to the realization of the dangers associated with drinking while pregnant. One of them being the change in drinking age caused by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as well as states lowering their blood alcohol content levels. The other realization was child victimization, society was disgusted when they saw or heard about children that had been abused; physically or emotionally. So when it became known that alcohol affected the helpless child in the womb it was normal for the people to be upset about it. What really got people’s attention was the S...
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...Elizabeth R. Sowell. "Focus On: Structural And Functional Brain Abnormalities In Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders." Alcohol Research & Health 34.1 (2011): 121-131. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
Perlstein, David, MD. "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Symptoms, Causes, Treatment." Onhealth. Ed.
William C. Shiel Jr., MD. Medicine Net Inc., Web. 09 Dec. 2013. .
Seaver, Laurie Heron. "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders. Ed. Brigham Narins. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 461-464. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Warren, Kenneth R., Brenda G. Hewitt, and Jennifer D. Thomas. "Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Research Challenges And Opportunities." Alcohol Research & Health 34.1 (2011): 4-14. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
Davis, PM, TL Carr, and CB La. "Needs assessment and current practice of alcohol risk assessment of pregnant women and women of childbearing age by primary health care professionals.."Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 15.2 (2008): 214-222.Pubmed.gov. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
According to the CDC, FAS is the leading cause of preventable developmental disabilities and birth defects. It is not known how many people have fetal alcohol spectrum disorders or FASD of which fetal alcohol syndrome is the most prevalent of the spectrum of disorders. CDC studies have identified 0.2 to 1.5 infants are born with FAS per 1000 live births, (this rate is comparable or higher than rates for other disorders such as Spina Bifida and Down syndrome) another study found FAS in 0.3 out of 1000 children aged 7 to 9 years. The Minnesota Department of Health states that because not all children exhibit facial characteristics, it is under diagnosed and up to 20% of children have been exposed prenatally to alcohol. Epidemiologic studies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggestion that a pregnant woman should not drink alcohol during pregnancy (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy 2005) has been widely criticized as being unnecessarily paternalistic, but the CDC goes further into explaining that, “Alcohol consumed during pregnancy increases the risk of alcohol related birth defects, including growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities, central nervous system impairment, behavioral disorders, and impaired intellectual development” (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy
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a patient's birth defects. In other words, FAE is a less severe form of FAS.
Women who are pregnant, but drink moderate amounts of alcohol still pose many dangerous threats to their unborn child. A fetal alcohol effect is one of them, with slight deformities, mental retardation, and learning disabilities. Fetal alcohol effected children not only have physical differences from normal children, but also suffer with psychiatric problems and at more apt to get in trouble with the law. Pregnant women who drink not only run the risk of having a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome, but of having a child with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder occurs when children have prenatal exposure to alcohol. These babies have cognitive and behavioral problems that are alcohol-related, without the severe facial or growth deformities babies with fetal alcohol syndrome have. Pregnant women who drink expose their baby to teratogen ethanol- the active ingredient in alcohol. The fetus exposure is longer and more intense compared to the mother who is able to metabolize the teratogen ethanol.
Burd, L. and Martsolf, J. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Diagnosis and Syndromal Variability. Physiology and Behavior, 46:39-43 (1989).
A mother who drinks while she is pregnant stands a high risk of harming their unborn child because the alcohol passes through her blood to her baby, and that can harm the development of the baby’s cells. This is most likely to harm the baby’s brain and spinal cord. Many of the common effects of a child suffering from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is: distinctive facial features, growth problems making them smaller than the average child, and learning and behavior problems.
Nurnberger, John. "Alcoholism Is a Genetic Disorder." Alcohol Abuse. Ed. Christine Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Unraveling the Genetics or Alcohol...
... excluded potential risk factors for preterm birth including previous pregnancies and multiple births. Thus, these results should only be applied to the risk of alcohol consumption for primiparous mothers with singleton pregnancies. However, despite the lack of risks identified in this study, alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to disabilities. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP, 2011), its adverse effects include fetal alcohol syndrome, learning disabilities, social ineptness, depression, and anxiety. The AACAP strongly recommends against pregnant women consuming any form of alcohol at any level. Despite the data presented by Dale et al. (2016), the question of the other risks of alcohol consumption on the fetus was not explored and thus alcohol use during pregnancy should not be condoned solely based on this study.
Merrick J, Merrick E, Morad M, Kandel I. (2006). Fetal alcohol syndrome and its long-term effects. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Faculty of Health Sciences Jun;58(3):211-8.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is an environmental birh defect that is caused by the amount of alcohol in take of the mother, even though there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant all amounts affect the baby differently. No woman should be drinking while they’re pregnant anyway just to keep their baby safe. Although fetal alcohol syndrome can be prevented by not drinking alcohol at all while you are pregnant like the doctor tells you to.
The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome states "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the name given to a group of physical and mental birth defects that are the direct result of a woman's drinking during pregnancy" (NOFAS 1). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the only disease that is one hundred percent preventable if the mother refrains from drinking while pregnant. Drinking liquor at all during pregnancy is not advisable. There is no way of measuring how much alcohol one can consume before defects occur, and no proof that small amounts of liquor are safe. As little as one drink a day can cause a baby some degree of harm and interfere with their normal development.
Children can be effected by their caregiver’s alcohol and substance abuse in numerous ways. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a pattern of birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome tend to have physical abnormalities such as deformed facial characteristics. They are generally born with a variety of emotional and/or intellectual limitations. It is very common for these children to...
“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!” A child has most likely heard that phrase at some point in their life. Although, it is not ethical or legal for a mother to “take her kid out of this world”, it does bring up a good point that it was through her body, that the child was born. One of the most important responsibilities in this world is a mother carrying a child in the womb. There are many divine processes that take place during gestation, but there are also many contributing factors from the mother that can affect the developing human. These factors may include what a woman ingests and exposes her embryo or fetus to. Sadly, alcohol use during pregnancy is an ongoing problem that can have detrimental affects on the fetus, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Choosing to drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy is a choice, a risky choice. Unfortunately some women don’t even know they are making a risky choice by consuming alcohol because it is in the early stages of pregnancy. It is common for a female to not find out they are pregnant until at least the fifth or sixth week after fertilization. In 2006, 49% of all pregnancies in the United States were reported unintended on a national survey.1 The highest rate of preventable birth defects and mental retardation is due to alcohol use.2 In this paper, I will further discuss FAS, the potential effects of binge drinking during the embryonic stage of gestation, and what actions need to be taken in order to reduce the incidences of alcohol related birth defects.