Syndromes fetal alcohol syndrome

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a pattern of mental and physical defects that develops in some offspring when exposed to alcohol in utero. The first trimester is the most susceptible period. Some babies with alcohol-related birth defects, such as lower birth weight and body size and neurological impairments, do not have all of the classic FAS symptoms. These outcomes are often referred to as fetal alcohol effects (FAE). Currently there is not total agreement among medical scientists concerning the precise differences between FAE and FAS. In addition to growth retardation, the most common outcomes of fetal alcohol syndrome include psychomotor dysfunction and craniofacial anomalies. 

Syndromal (hranchio-oto-renal syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome. Turner syndrome, Goldenhar syndrome, autosomal syndromes)... 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Ethanol readily passes across the placenta and into the fetal circulation. The fetal alcohol syndrome has three primary features microcephaly, prenatal growth deficiency, and short palpebral fissures Other characteristics include postnatal growth deficiency, fine motor dysfunction, cardiac defects, and anomalies of the external genitalia and inner ear. A definite risk of producing fetal abnormalities occurs when ethanol consumption by the mother exceeds 3 oz daily, the equivalent of about six drinks. 

Prenatal exposure to ethanol results in a spectrum of abnormalities including, at one extreme, fetal alcohol syndrome, which includes growth retardation, facial anomalies, mental retardation, and microencephaly. Children with less severe prenatal exposures often lack the characteristic facial features of fetal alcohol syndrome, but suffer from a similar pattern of cognitive deficits (Berman and Hannigan, 2000). Mild exposures are associated with variable deficits in motor development and functional delays (Levitt, 1998). 

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