Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment

FASD is completely avoidable if you do not drink alcohol while you’re pregnant. For example, they may have difficulties with learning, have challenging behaviours, mental health problems, and find it difficult to get a job and live independently as an adult. The frequency, strength, and quantity of alcoholic drinks have an effect, as well as the timing of consumption. Drinking alcohol late in a pregnancy increases the likelihood of FAS.

Pediatrics Research Roundup, Destigmatizing Substance Use Disorder – Episode 120

It’s impossible to exactly pinpoint all of the development during pregnancy, drunken baby syndrome making it risky to drink alcohol at any time prior to birth. This condition can be prevented if you don’t drink any alcohol during pregnancy. It’s possible that even small amounts of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can damage your developing fetus.

• FAS is a lifelong condition, and a child with FAS will likely need long-term assistance.
• Cholesterol circulates through the brain in association with astrocyte-produced lipoproteins (Martín et al., 2014).
• However, there is a lack of research to confirm the effectiveness of these therapies.
• Fetal alcohol syndrome is the most severe condition within a group of conditions called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).

Secondary

There is no safe time during pregnancy for a mother to drink alcohol, as it can cause developmental problems throughout pregnancy. Drinking alcohol is dangerous even before a woman knows she is pregnant. While some FASD outcomes are more likely at different times during the pregnancy, brain development in particular occurs throughout gestation, and growth and central nervous system problems can occur from drinking alcohol at any time. However, it is never too late in the pregnancy to stop drinking; the sooner a mother stops drinking during pregnancy, the less likely that symptoms will manifest or be severe. The physical and mental conditions caused by alcohol exposure before birth are lifelong. But early intervention services may help lessen some of the challenges of fetal alcohol syndrome and may help prevent some secondary disabilities.

How early can you tell if your child has fetal alcohol syndrome?

Control of oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination occurs through a diverse array of transcription factors, extracellular signals and intracellular pathways (Mitew et al., 2013). If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant and cannot stop drinking, get help! Contact your healthcare provider, local Alcoholics Anonymous, or local alcohol treatment center. Clearer signs that a baby has fetal alcohol syndrome include specific facial features, the size of the baby’s head, and problems with sleeping and sucking.

Professional Development

Recent imaging studies of FASD children show defects in white matter fiber tracts that may arise from the reported effects of alcohol on oligodendrocytes or their precursors. Similarly, alcohol exposure during the brain growth spurt and the resultant microencephaly that occurs also highlights the glial effects of alcohol. There is evidence that reduced dendritic arborization and structural plasticity observed in FASD models may be due, at least in part, to changes in factors released by astrocytes, which are known to have a major role in neuronal development and brain maturation. Finally, the neuronal loss reported in several FASD models may be caused by reduced release of trophic factors and antioxidants by astrocytes or increased release of neuroinflammatory molecules by microglia and astrocytes.

This is because it takes time for your body to build up enough hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone that develops in early pregnancy) to be detected on a pregnancy test. During those early weeks of pregnancy, the fetus is going through a massive surge of development. The beginning of fetal development is the most important for the whole body, but organs like the brain continue to develop throughout pregnancy.

• The frequency, strength, and quantity of alcoholic drinks have an effect, as well as the timing of consumption.
• FAS symptoms include distinctive facial features, lower-than-average height and weight, and problems with brain and nervous system development.
• We also discuss how people can prevent FAS and when to see a doctor.
• An FASD diagnosis provides families, pediatricians and nonphysician clinicians a framework for understanding an individual’s behavior.
• As seen with other aspects of FASD, individuals afflicted with neurobehavioral deficits do not necessarily possess the characteristic facial features.
• Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure alters neuronal migration and induces glial heterotopia (Jones et al., 1973).

Cholesterol homeostasis is maintained by astrocyte-released lipoproteins that can extract cholesterol from astrocytes and neurons. The transporter ABCA1 (ATP binding cassette-A1) is essential for the generation of nascent lipoproteins in astrocytes. Cholesterol efflux is mediated by ABCG1 and ABCG4 transporters and leads to the lipidation and remodeling of nascent, lipid poor lipoproteins (Koldamova et al., 2003; Hirsch-Reinshagen et al., 2004; Wahrle et al., 2004). Our studies indicate that alcohol upregulates expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1 in astrocyte cultures, thereby increasing cholesterol efflux and reducing brain cholesterol levels (Guizzetti et al., 2007). Astrocyte-released lipoproteins also increase cholesterol efflux from neurons through a mechanism likely mediated by ABCG4 (Zhou et al., 2014).

Nonpharmacologic Treatment for FAS

Using alcohol during pregnancy is the leading cause of preventable birth defects, developmental disabilities and learning disabilities. However, the only way to prevent FAS is to avoid drinking beverages containing alcohol during pregnancy. 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.