Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

This paper is dedicated to Dr. Joshua Oyekan for his dedication to the education of others.

Abstract

In recent years the public has been made aware of a syndrome called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The syndrome has received publicity for many reasons including the fact that it is a completely preventable syndrome based on the pregnant mother's behaviors. The syndrome causes disabilities for the children and in recent court hearings mothers have been facing charges for causing the syndrome in their children. It is a life long syndrome that cannot be reversed once it is achieved. The public has a responsibility in trying to prevent the syndrome from occurring. The public pays the price each time it happens in the way of funding special education needs, funding welfare checks and funding the cost of foster care. It is in the public's best interest to use education and legal means to stop the incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Chapter One

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a lifelong yet completely preventable set of physical, mental and neurobehavioral birth defects associated with alcohol intake during pregnancy. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, according to many physicians is the leading cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in the United States today. Douglas A. Milligan states that, "FAS" is the single greatest cause of mental retardation in the U.S. today"(Seachrist 1994). The purpose of this paper is to warn women of the effects of alcohol on their unborn child, to educate the public, and to help others understand what fetal alcohol syndrome is.

The term Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was created to describe the pattern of the defects found in children born to alcoholic women. It was extremely clear and discrete in the detection of itself and was distinct from all other patterns of malformation in the fetus. Being further studied in the 1970's under the heading as a birth defect that occurs, FAS was one of the most common causes of birth defects.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is closely tied to a series of medical, social and cultural milestones in the last third of the 20th century. Until the feminist movement, all studies and public programs on alcohol and substance abuse were about men. The Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision on abortion in 1973 had resulting effects of encouraging doctors to focus on health issues affecting pregnancy, those included alcoholism. Crack babies also heightened concerns for all forms of substance abuse by women. Since the level of individual tolerance for alcohol varied significantly, scientists tended to recommend complete abstinence during pregnancy. Clinicians generally considered moderate alcohol use during pregnancy acceptable.

"Passage of the 1989 Alcoholic Beverages Labeling Act marked the beginning of a new era. Distillers welcomed the legislation because it seemed to promise limited liability for use of their products by pregnant women. Evidence suggested that despite the warning labels, the incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome was heightening. Recognition of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was highly contested. America's post-prohibition attitude was that alcohol problems resided in the drinker, not the drink. A growing public climate in which personal responsibility was emphasized also made the diagnosis suspect, especially when used as a legal defense.

"Residential treatment programs for women with fetal alcohol syndrome are neither readily available nor serviceable. Expectant mothers who enter such programs are generally forced to place their other children in foster care and they face serious obstacles when they try to get them back. The cultural history of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a mirror for the social and cultural forces of the recent decades." http://children.camden.rutgers.edu/GoldenStudy.htm

Chapter 2

Risks of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

"Scientists are searching for genetic and biochemical characteristics associated with the susceptibility to FAS. Human gestations are divided into two major periods: the embryonic period (up to 8 weeks) and the fetal period (from 8 weeks to delivery). It's during the embryonic period that various drugs are introduced directly into the maternal bloodstream or administered through the maternal diet. Chemical/Physical agents that produce these fetal malformations are called teratogens. Most teratogens show selectivity towards certain organs, based on the timing of the embryo to the teratogen, the dosage taken, and the sensitivity of the dividing cells. Organs and limbs of the developing embryo are formed from collections of specialized cells. Exposure of an embryo to a teratogen during this period may have devastating effect on the formation of that organ." (Michaelis and Michaelis 1994)

"The primary metabolic product of alcohol is acetaldehyde which could also produce some damaging effects. The reasons that this is looked at, but not as directly as is alcohol, is because of the following reasons; Alcohol is distributed rapidly and nearly equally in maternal and fetal tissues, Alcohol applied directly onto embryos in vitro conditions in which no acetaldehyde is formed causes growth retardation. Because of this, these two mentioned factors are in effect causes indirectly, if not adversely directly, to the formation of the defects that are causes in the children of FAS. The nutritional aspect of FAS is not as simple. Normal growth and development during this priming period requires the transfer of a continuous supply of amino acids and glucose from mother to fetus. Several studies have shown that with the human placental tissue alcohol directly obstructs the transport of both these substances. These are two essential substances that, through research with rat embryos, have proven that the depravity of such causes malformations of fetal tissue's energy sources. The materials needed for cell proliferation, growth, and differentiation is also affected in this. The supplemental glucose thus becomes only minimally effective because of the lack of