FASD – Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder

Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is a highly undesirable phenomenon, often causing miscarriages or many abnormalities of the child's development. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) describes physical and mental disorders resulting from the effects of alcohol on health and behavioral disorders of the child, which are usually secondary to changes in the central nervous system caused by fetal alcohol intoxication during pregnancy. These changes are usually irreversible and evident throughout the life of a child affected by FASD, but if appropriate therapies are implemented, it is possible to minimize the symptoms of these disorders. Their nature and severity depend on several factors, including the time of exposure to alcohol and the health status of a pregnant woman. Clinical features of FASD include craniofacial anomalies, central nervous system disorders and growth retardation. Alcohol-induced structural changes include anomalies in the cardiovascular, skeletal, renal and urinary systems as well as in the organs of sight and hearing. Time of initial diagnosis plays an important role, because it allows the introduction of appropriate therapy for a child with FASD and the introduction of appropriate education of parents and other members of the family. It is possible to minimize the symptoms and disorders resulting from the Fetal Alcohol Disorders Spectrum, to the extent enabling them proper functioning of the child and his family.