Medical research

No safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy, suggest researchers

An international group of researchers has taken one of the first major steps in finding the biological changes in the brain that drive fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). New work using chaos theory to analyze brain signals, ...

Neuroscience

Prenatal exposure to alcohol disrupts brain circuitry

(Medical Xpress)—Prenatal exposure to alcohol severely disrupts major features of brain development that potentially lead to increased anxiety and poor motor function, conditions typical in humans with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum ...

Neuroscience

New method uses AI to screen for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC), Queen's University (Ontario) and Duke University have developed a new tool that can screen children for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) quickly and affordably, ...

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Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) describes a continuum of permanent birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, which includes, but is not limited to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Approximately 1 percent of children are believed to suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Over time, as it became apparent through research and clinical experience that a range of effects (including physical, behavioral, and cognitive) could arise from prenatal alcohol exposure, the term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, or FASD, was developed to include Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) as well as other conditions resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure. There are a number of other subtypes with evolving nomenclature and definitions based on partial expressions of FAS, including Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (PFAS), Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND), Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD), and Fetal Alcohol Effect (FAE).

The term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is not in itself a clinical diagnosis but describes the full range of disabilities that may result from prenatal alcohol exposure. Currently, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the only expression of prenatal alcohol exposure that is defined by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and assigned ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnoses.

There is no known safe amount of alcohol or safe time to drink alcohol during pregnancy[citation needed]. Because of this, the current recommendation of both the Surgeon General of the United States and the British Department of Health is to drink no alcohol at all if one is pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

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