Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

Unfortunately, people with FAS are more likely to experience legal troubles, have secondary mental health diagnoses, and have higher rates of suicide. People with FAS have better outcomes if they experience a supportive and loving environment during alcoholism childhood. Diagnosing FASDs can be hard because there is no medical test, like a blood test, for these conditions.

Treatment / Management

• The full picture of FAS usually occurs in babies born to alcoholic mothers, or those who drink more than four to five drinks/day.
• FAS exists on a spectrum of disorders and the way each person is impacted by the condition can vary greatly.
• Alcohol can cause problems for a developing baby throughout pregnancy, including before a woman knows she’s pregnant.
• People with FASDs can have lifelong effects, including problems with behavior and learning as well as physical problems.

They may cause someone to have difficulty finding or participating in work. By Serenity Mirabito RN, OCNMirabito is a certified oncology nurse. A commitment to patient advocacy informs her healthcare writing. One study found life expectancy is significantly reduced compared to people without FAS (most often due to external causes such as suicide, accidents, or overdose of alcohol or drugs).

IX. Differential Diagnosis

One person might have only a few, while another person could experience all of them. An individual with FAS may have noticeable changes to their face and limbs, as well as delays in the way their body develops over time. There can also be mental and emotional challenges throughout the person’s life that can impact their social life, education and work. Any amount of alcohol during fetal alcohol syndrome pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome. Damage to your developing baby can happen at any point during pregnancy.

Goal of Fetal Alcohol Treatment

Alcohol use during this time could negatively impact the baby. The beginning of fetal development is the most important for the whole body, but organs like the brain continue to develop throughout pregnancy. It’s impossible to exactly pinpoint all of the development during pregnancy, making it risky to drink alcohol at any time prior to birth.

It is estimated that as many as three babies in 1,000 will have FAS. However, the rate may be three times higher in some populations. Prognosis is guarded; however, recent research with chick embryos may help guide future treatments to reverse the damage caused to the brain by prenatal alcohol exposure. Treatment involves coordination of multiple community services. Social services are needed to ensure a safe home environment and provide parental education. Early identification and intervention results in significantly improved outcomes.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) describes a group of permanent symptoms experienced by people who were exposed to alcohol in utero (during pregnancy). There are currently five conditions that make up FASD, including fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). The cranial neural crest cells (NCCs) contribute to the formation of the craniofacial bones.

What is fetal alcohol syndrome?

To prevent FASDs, a woman should avoid alcohol if she is pregnant or might be pregnant. This is because a woman could get pregnant and not know for up to 4 to 6 weeks. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Estimates of the occurrence rate for FAS vary from .3-3 per 1,000 live births. Before he was adopted as a baby, social workers told them that he was autistic and would never walk or talk. Care https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/wet-mush-brain-from-alcoholism-symptoms-and-dangers/ from Children’s National Hospital helped give him a bright future, instead.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person exposed to alcohol before birth. These conditions can affect each person in different ways and can range from mild to severe. People with FASDs can have lifelong effects, including problems with behavior and learning as well as physical problems. FASDs are preventable if a developing baby is not exposed to alcohol. Fetal alcohol syndrome is one of the five disorders that comprise fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These fetal alcohol spectrum disorders classify the wide-ranging physical and neurological effects that prenatal alcohol exposure can inflict on a fetus.

Fetal alcohol syndrome

As mentioned previously, complications range in quality and severity. Sequelae include perturbations to affect regulation and cognition, as well as to physical appearance manifested via pathognomonic anomalies. If your child is diagnosed with an FASD, the diagnosis will be for a specific condition under the umbrella of FASDs, as listed above.

• And other disorders, such as ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and Williams syndrome, have some symptoms like FAS.
• Women should be advised not to drink from the time of conception to birth.
• Infants with FAS often are irritable, overly sensitive to noise, behind in their development, have trouble eating and sleeping, have too little or too much muscle tone, and don’t like to be held.
• A single episode of binge drinking, especially during the first few weeks of pregnancy, can lead to FAS.
• Although psychological factors such as abuse and neglect can add to the intensity of the problems, the behaviors should be viewed first and foremost as a result of brain damage from alcohol.

If you’ve consumed alcohol during pregnancy, talk to your healthcare provider. It’s important to make an early diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome. If you’re currently pregnant and drinking alcohol, stop immediately to try to lower the risk of FAS. There are no exact statistics of how many people have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). It can sometimes be difficult to diagnose a person with FASD because of the variety of symptoms and spectrum of severity. Also, not all people who drink while pregnant feel comfortable talking to their healthcare provider.