Fetal alcohol

Fetal alcohol syndrome A congenital disorder arising from excessive (>50g per day) alcohol intake during pregnancy. 

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a pattern of birth defects caused by maternal consumption of ethanol during pregnancy. It is recognized by growth deficiency, a characteristic set of craniofacial features and neurodevelopmental abnormalities leading to cognitive and behavioral deficits [85]. FAS is considered to be the most common non-hereditary cause of mental retardation. 

Stratton K, Howe C, Battaglia F. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Prevention and Treatment. National Academy Press, Washington, DC 1996. 

Boutelet-Bochan H, Huang Y, Juchau MR. 1997. Expression of CYP2EI during embryogenesis and fetogenesis in human cephalic tissues implications for the fetal alcohol syndrome. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 238 443-447. 

Caldeira JC, Wu Y, Mameli M, Purdy RH, Li P-K, Akwa Y, Savage DD, Engen JR, Valenzuela CF. 2004. Fetal alcohol exposure alters neurosteroid levels in the developing rat brain. J Neurochem 90 1530-1539. 

Toxicologists nowadays take a broad view of developmental toxicity they consider not only structural but also functional abnormalities to qualify as adverse, as long as they were produced as a result of exposures incurred in utero. Thus, for example, the developmental effects of chronic alcohol abuse by pregnant women, known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), are characterized not only by the presence of certain craniofacial abnormalities, but also by a variety of disabilities such as shortened attention span, speech disorders, and restlessness. Although fully expressed physical deformities included in FAS are associated with heavy drinking, debate continues on the level of alcohol consumption, if any, that is without these more subtle effects on behavior. 

O Shea, K.S. and Kaufman, M.H. The teratogenic effect of acetaldehyde implications for the study of the fetal alcohol S3mdrome. J. Anat., 128 65-76, 1979. 

Particularly alarming are fetal effects of alcohol and drugs on food-related odor responses in humans. Apart from the severe fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol can affect the chemosensory behavior of a fetus. Alcohol administered to pregnant female rats impaired odor aversions and preferences in their offspring. A... 

Ethyl alcohol is a developmental toxin in humans. Excessive consumption is associated with fetal alcohol syndrome, which is characterized by joint, limb, and cardiac anomalies and behavioral and cognitive impairment. ... 

Children Coeur d Alene, Silver Valley, ID Solar radiation (ultraviolet light) Arsenic Estimated number of children with fetal alcohol syndrome. Town contaminated by lead. Sunburn, cancer. Found in drinking water, and old smelter and mining sites, causes skin disease and cancer. 

Absorption readily absorbed by intestine, food will delay absorption Sensitive individuals fetus (fetal alcohol syndrome - FAS) Toxicity/symptoms developing nervous system very sensitive to low levels of exposure children - lowered IQ, learning and behavioral problems adults — memory loss, inebriation, liver disease, cancer... 

Health Canada - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect. Online. Available HTTP (accessed 2 April 2003). 

Web site devoted to providing resources on fetal alcohol syndrome. 

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment,... 

Kathleen Stratton, Cynthia Howe, and Frederick C. Battaglia, eds Committee to Study Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Institute of Medicine, Washington, DC, 1996. 

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