Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs)

Sunday, August 29, 2010 No Comments by admin

Alcohol Use in Pregnancy

There is no known safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant.  There is also no safe time during pregnancy to drink and no safe kind of alcohol.  CDC urges pregnant women not to drink alcohol any time during pregnancy.

Women also should not drink alcohol if they are planning to become pregnant or are sexually active and do not use effective birth control.  This is because a woman could become pregnant and not know for several weeks or more.  In the United States half of all pregnancies are unplanned.

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Fetal alcohol syndrome refers to growth, mental, and physical problems

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 No Comments by admin

Fetal alcohol syndrome refers to growth, mental, and physical problems that may occur in a baby when a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy.

Causes

Using or abusing alcohol during pregnancy can cause the same risks as using alcohol in general. However, it poses extra risks to the fetus. When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, it easily passes across the placenta to the fetus. Because of this, drinking alcohol can harm the baby’s development.

A pregnant woman who drinks any amount of alcohol is at risk, since no “safe” level of alcohol use during pregnancy has been established. However, larger amounts appear to increase the problems. Binge drinking is more harmful than drinking small amounts of alcohol.

Timing of alcohol use during pregnancy is also important. Alcohol use appears to be the most harmful during the first 3 months of pregnancy However, drinking alcohol anytime during pregnancy can be harmful.

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Sunday, August 22, 2010 2 Comments by admin

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is not a uniform clinical picture, but a spectrum of disorders, varying in severity.

Fetal alcohol effects (FAEs) represents the milder end of the spectrum.

There are three main components of FAS:

  • Facial abnormalities, especially in the mid-facial area
  • Both intrauterine growth retardation and failure to catch up
  • Mental problems of cognitive impairment, learning disabilities and impulsiveness

EpidemiologyAlcohol is the most common teratogen affecting humans, causing perhaps 10% of physical malformations. It is rated as the most common cause of mental and behavioural problems in children, surpassing Down’s syndrome and neural tube defects.1Exact numbers are difficult to define in this spectrum of disorder but it is estimated that fetal alcohol effects occur in 3 to 5 live births per 1,000 and fetal alcohol syndrome occurs in 1 to 2 per 1,000.

There is much difference between communities depending on habits and tradition. Read more »

Alcohol-Related Birth Defects

Sunday, August 15, 2010 No Comments by admin

Formerly known as Possible Fetal Alcohol Effect (PFAE), Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD) was a term proposed as an alternative to FAE and PFAE The IOM presents ARBD as a list of congenital anomalies that are linked to maternal alcohol use but have no key features of FASD. PFAE and ARBD have fallen out of favor because these anomalies are not necessarily specific to maternal alcohol consumption and are not criteria for diagnosis of FASD. The Canadian guidelines recommend that ARBD should not be used as an umbrella term or diagnostic category for FASD.

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How can you help ?

Sunday, August 15, 2010 No Comments by admin

It is crucial to understand the vast array of effects associated with FASD in order for families,caregivers, community practitioners, child welfare and schools to be able to provide effective andquality supports to children and adults with FASD.
• Where there is judgment or blame there is lack of knowledge.
• Have an open mind to learn about the disorder of the brain.
• Families/caregivers raising individuals affected with FASD require proactive, timely, consistent and non-judgmental support.
• Remove the stigma…alcohol consumption is not restricted to ethnicity or a certain class of people. The effects of alcohol on a fetus was not known and although there has been enormous progress it still is not common knowledge.
• Offer and maintain a “helpful” approach to women struggling with addictions, after all addictions are an illness.
• Get the word out…Do not drink any alcohol if you are or if there is any possibility of you being pregnant.
There is no safe amount of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, Increased knowledge about
FASD and its devastating life long effects in turn will decrease mistreatment, stigmas, increase
understanding and empathy for individuals affected and their families, hence giving them a better quality

Key features of FASD

Sunday, August 15, 2010 No Comments by admin

Each of the key features of FASD can vary widely within one individual exposed to prenatal alcohol. While consensus exists for the definition and diagnosis of FAS across diagnostic systems, minor variations among the systems lead to differences in definitions and diagnostic cut-off criteria for other disgnoses across the FASD continuum. (The central nervous system (CNS) damage criteria particularly lack clear consensus.) A working knowledge of the key features is helpful in understanding FASD diagnoses and conditions, and each are reviewed with attention to similarities and differences across the four diagnostic systems.

What is FASD ?

Sunday, August 15, 2010 No Comments by admin

FASD is not a clinical diagnosis but rather an umbrella term used to encompass the entire spectrum of all alcohol related disorders that can occur in an individual who has been exposed to alcohol in utero.

F = Fetal This identifies the developmental damage occurs in the uterus as a result of alcohol exposure to the fetus.

A = Alcohol This identifies alcohol to be the cause of the damage, it is a
teratogen which has a negative
impact on brain development.

S = Spectrum This identifies that there is a vast array of effects that differs from person to person.

D = Disorder This identifies FASD as a permanent condition that affects a person for life.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Sunday, August 15, 2010 3 Comments by admin

“FASD” redirects here. For other uses, see FASD (disambiguation).Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) describes a continuum of permanent birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, which includes, but is not limited to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Approximately 1 percent of children are believed to suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.Over time, as it became apparent through research and clinical experience that a range of effects (including physical, behavioral, and cognitive) could arise from prenatal alcohol exposure, the term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, or FASD, was developed to include Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) as well as other conditions resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure.

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