Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome By Stacney Martin What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome? Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a series of mental and physical birth defects The manifestations of these defects are associated with a mother’s ingestion of alcohol during pregnancy. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome annually affects between 1.3 and 2.2 children per 1,000 live births in North America. Researchers estimate that cases of Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD) exceed those of FAS by a ratio of 2:1 to 3:1. This would indicate …

…The long-term effects which will be found within the general population of drug-exposed children will not be explained by drug exposure alone. Before we can predict the developmental outcomes for these high-risk children we need further research into the additive and interactive effects of the multiple risk factors to which they are exposed, including in many cases the global effects of poverty, multigenerational substance abuse, and the impact of growing up in a drug-seeking environment.”