What are facial features of fetal alcohol syndrome?
Characteristic facial features in a child with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Findings may include a smooth philtrum, thin upper lip, upturned nose, flat nasal bridge and midface, epicanthal folds, small palpebral fissures, and small head circumference.
What is federal alcohol Syndrome?
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person who was exposed to alcohol before birth. These effects can include physical problems and problems with behavior and learning. Often, a person with an FASD has a mix of these problems.
What causes fetal alcohol syndrome?
What causes FASD? FASDs happen when a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy. Like other drugs, alcohol can pass from the mother’s blood through the placenta to the baby. Alcohol is broken down more slowly in the baby than in an adult.
When did fetal alcohol syndrome start?
Abstract. The diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) was invented in 1973. This paper investigates the process by which a cluster of birth defects associated with exposure to alcohol in utero came to be a distinct medical diagnosis, focusing on the first ten years of the medical literature on FAS.
What does fetal alcohol syndrome look like?
Distinctive facial features, including small eyes, an exceptionally thin upper lip, a short, upturned nose, and a smooth skin surface between the nose and upper lip. Deformities of joints, limbs and fingers. Slow physical growth before and after birth. Vision difficulties or hearing problems.
Can you tell if a baby has fetal alcohol syndrome in the womb?
Although doctors can’t diagnose fetal alcohol syndrome before a baby is born, they can assess the health of the mother and baby during pregnancy. Watches for signs and symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome in your child’s initial weeks, months and years of life.
What are three mental side effects of fetal alcohol syndrome?
Mental Health Problems
- Attention problems, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Conduct disorder (aggression toward others and serious violations of rules, laws, and social norms)
- Alcohol or drug dependence.
- Depression.
- Anxiety.
Does FAS cause mental retardation?
Today, FAS remains the leading known preventable cause of mental retardation (3). Behavioral and neurological problems associated with prenatal alcohol exposure may lead to poor academic performance as well as legal and employment difficulties in adolescence and adulthood (4).