Fetal alcohol syndrome

Question 1

What are the features of FAS?

Answer 1

Recognised teratogenic effects – facial dysmorphia
Severe risk of withdrawal seizures post delivery
Developmental delay/ behavioural/social problems akin to autism

Specific pattern of facial features
Pre- and/or postnatal growth deficiency
Evidence of central nervous system dysfunction

Question 1

What is foetal alcoholic syndrome?

Answer 1

This is a broad definition and refers to the range of
neurological impairments that can affect a child who has
been exposed to alcohol in the womb.

Question 2

General intellectual Performance of those with FAS: Mattson, S.N., 1997.

Answer 2

Lower IQ and executive functioning deficits (1999)

Question 3

What can influence the severity of FAS?

Answer 3

Several factors, including how much the mother drank and at what point during the pregnancy, can influence the severity of the impairments and what functions they most affect.

Question 4

List the disorders that children with FASD can display

Answer 4

can display symptoms of ADHD,
autism, Asperger syndrome, Tourette’s syndrome, epilepsy, mental retardation and various psychiatric disorders, but will often not respond to traditional treatments for those disabilities.

Question 5

What do “Nice guidelines for those who drink alcohol (NiCE, 2016; 2022)” state?

Answer 5

Allocation of a midwife or doctor who has special experience in the care of pregnant women with alcohol or drug problems. Furthermore, individuals should be put in touch with an alcohol or drug treatment programme.

Question 6

NiCE (2016; 2022):UK Cheif Medical officers’ Low Drinking Guidelines.

What do The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline state?

Answer 6

If you are pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.

Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you drink the greater the risk.

Question 7

What did the study on Animal models and prenatal alcohol find?

Answer 7

Also facial dysmorphia
Growth retardation
Facial characteristics
Heart, skeletal defects
Microcephaly
Reductions in basal ganglia and cerebellar volumes
Callosal anomalies

Driscoll, et al., 1990; Samson, 1986;