Parents might learn different routines and rules that can help their child adapt to different situations. Often, having a stable and supportive home can help children with FAS avoid developing mental and emotional difficulties as they get older. Fetal alcohol syndrome isn’t curable, and the symptoms will impact your child throughout life.

• It’s possible that even small amounts of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can damage your developing fetus.
• Prenatal or postnatal growth retardation typically results in a height or weight below the 10th percentile for age and race.

The epidemiology of fetal alcohol syndrome and partial FAS in a South African community

RNA sequencing analysis revealed activation of inflammatory and extracellular matrix responses. Rats with PAE demonstrate reduced nitric oxide-mediated uterine artery relaxation, potentially contributing to dysregulation of uterine blood flow and intrauterine growth retardation153. MiRNA act by silencing RNA and modifying post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. A cluster of 11 extracellular miRNA from serum of women in the second trimester of pregnancy was a marker of PAE and predicted adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in Ukrainian and South African populations154,155. Injection of the same 11 miRNAs into pregnant mice decreased placental and fetal growth, suggesting that they mediate the adverse outcomes of PAE156.

Causes of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Although biomarkers for PAE (such as fatty acid ethyl esters, ethyl glucuronide and phosphatidylethanol) are identifiable in maternal hair, blood and meconium, their clinical use is limited, and testing may be costly or unavailable284. Even in patients who clearly have met diagnostic criteria, referral allows complete assessment for an individualized management plan (Table 34). A permanent condition, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) happens when a person consumes any amount of alcohol during a pregnancy. Alcohol use during pregnancy can interfere with the baby’s development, causing physical and mental defects.

International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-

Comparable to the facial features of the child with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) (part a), the mouse fetus exposed prenatally to alcohol shows a thin upper lip with a smooth philtrum, short palpebral fissures and a small midface (part b). C, The normal features in a control mouse fetus (not prenatally exposed to alcohol). Later studies found that, in addition to FAS, PAE could cause behavioural, cognitive and learning problems, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and speech and language delay, in the absence of facial and other physical features10. Recognition of the disconnect between the neurodevelopmental and physical effects (which relate to first-trimester exposure) of PAE and the wide range of outcomes caused by PAE led to the introduction of the term fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD)11.

An overview of current advances in perinatal alcohol exposure and pathogenesis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Limitations of this study included small sample size for selected race/ethnic groups across age groups and differences in methods for sample selection at each site. There was also variability across sites in the available information on quantity and frequency of prenatal alcohol exposure. In addition, there could be some diagnostic suspicion bias on the part of examiners who may have been more likely to recognize one or more additional features if the child being examined already exhibited some or all of the key features of FAS. However, the study included a highly structured and systematic method for conducting these examinations across all sites, and examiners were all highly experienced in differentiating these subtle features.

What is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)?

• Interventions to improve social connections in children with FASD include the Children’s Friendship Training (CFT)250 and the Families on Track programme251.
• FASD is a lifelong condition and information must be sought about adult patients, including the elderly.
• Improving the primary prevention of alcohol use in pregnancy and hence FASD is also warranted237,238.
• The consequences are lifelong, and the behavioral and learning difficulties are often greater than the degree of neurocognitive impairment.
• By 1977, the US government had issued a warning about the health risks of alcohol use during pregnancy, which was endorsed by professional organizations in the USA6,7.

Fetal alcohol syndrome is on the severe end of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). FASD is a range of conditions in the child caused by the mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Public-health initiatives that promote and support women’s health, in general, may raise awareness about PAE/FASD. More specific measures include warning signs on alcohol products, pamphlets and public education programmes that encourage healthy, alcohol-free pregnancies220,221. Moreover, campaigns that use triggering imagery or blaming/shaming language (such as ‘FASD is 100% preventable’) can stigmatize and isolate pregnant women who use alcohol, particularly when paired with judgmental interventions196.

A case definition and photographic screening tool for the facial phenotype of fetal alcohol syndrome

Other strengths of this study include the cross-cultural nature of the sample, and the unprecedented number of children with FAS or some features of FAS who were examined in a standard fashion. The significantly increased number of additional structural defects seen in children of White race compared to Cape Colored children is also unexplained. However, these data suggest that prenatal alcohol exposure might lead to a different phenotype based on age and racial background. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a condition in a child that results from alcohol exposure during the mother’s pregnancy. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause the child to have disabilities related to behavior, learning and thinking, and physical development. The symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome vary from child to child but are lifelong.

However, it is important to recognize that in the initial description of FAS, “other joint anomalies” was a broad category and encompassed anomalies of the palmar and interphalangeal creases, as well as decreased elbow pronation/supination and inability to completely extend the fingers. In our study, we evaluated these features individually and found all to occur more frequently in both the FAS and the Deferred groups. The increased incidence of heart murmur in children in the FAS and Deferred groups in this study is expected in that cardiac defects have been documented to occur in 5% to as many as 72% of children with FASD Burd et al., 2007. In this study, no echocardiogram or other confirmatory tests were performed to document the prevalence of true cardiac defects.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Alcohol consumption has occurred for centuries, with harms from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) being mentioned in Greek and biblical verses and depicted in the art and literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries1,2. A French-language publication from 1968, which received little attention at the time, described perinatal death, prematurity, growth retardation, facial features and malformations in the offspring of women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy3. Unaware of the French publication, Jones et al. described a similar pattern of altered morphogenesis and function in 11 children of mothers with ‘alcoholism’ in the Lancet in 1973 (ref. 4). They reported specific facial features (thin upper lip, smooth philtrum (the vertical groove between the base of the nose and drunken baby syndrome the border of the upper lip) and short palpebral fissures) and coined the term fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)5.