The 9th of September is observed as International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day. International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day helps raise awareness about the range of conditions that can result from alcohol use during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. Accordingly these effects can include physical problems and problems with behavior and learning. Often, a person with an FASD has a mix of these problems.

There is no known safe amount of alcohol to drink during pregnancy. Any amount of alcohol can harm a developing fetus and increase the risk of miscarriage.

Types of FASDs include:

• Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
• Partial fetal alcohol syndrome
• Alcohol-related birth defects
• Alcohol-related neurodevelopment disorder
• Neurobehavioral disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure

Symptoms

• A small head
• Abnormal facial features
• Below average height and weight
• Delayed development and problems in thinking, speech, movement, and social skills
• Learning disabilities
• And more

There’s no cure or specific treatment for fetal alcohol syndrome. The physical defects and mental deficiencies typically persist for a lifetime.

Research article by PLOS ONE

A new blood test may help predict how severely a baby will be affected by alcohol exposure during pregnancy (under examination). The results indicated that moderate to high levels of alcohol exposure during early pregnancy resulted in significant differences in some circulating small RNA molecules, termed microRNAs (miRNAs), in maternal blood. These differences were particularly notable in those mothers whose infants showed some physical or neurobehavioral signs of alcohol effects in the first 12 months of life.

Besides, Good nutrition, better perinatal health care, lowering stress levels and infant care interventions can all improve the outcome of alcohol-affected pregnancies, the researchers stated. Although FASD cannot be cured but early diagnosis is vital.