Effects of Alcohol and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Essay -- Alcohol Alcohol

Effects of alcoholic beverageic drinkic drink and Fetal alcoholic beverage SyndromeWorks Cited MissingAlcohol plays a major role in society today. It is constantly being in our minds through advertisements, whether its commercials orbillboards, holidays, or even just at the popular social scene. Alcohol isconsumed for many purposes, such as celebrations, to increase romance, out ofboredom, or a fashion to relax. Alcohol is a drug that is depended upon by themajority of our society. N wiztheless, alcohol has real damaging effects, notonly does it caexercising self-inflicted diseases resembling alcoholism or cirrhosis of the liverof the liver, but it harms unborn fetuses as well. Many women drink alcoholwhen they do not even know that they are pregnant yet. Alcohol tin can causedisorders such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects.Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, FAS, is a congenital disorder which ischaracterized by a variety of physical and behavioral traits that result fro mmaternal alcohol breathing in during pregnancy. The term Fetal Alcohol Effects,FAE, indicates that alcohol is being considered as one of the possible causes ofa patients turn in defects. In other words, FAE is a less severe form of FAS.Both FAS and FAE are the results of the use of teratogens, which are nongeneticinfluences that can potentially complicate fetal development.(Harris, p.85)FAS is due to the mothers uptake of alcohol during pregnancy.Alcohol in the womans bloodstream circulates to the fetus via the placenta.There, the alcohol intrudes with the capability of the fetus to receive asufficient amount of oxygen and livelihood for normal development in the brainand other body organs. The full of life time for alcohol teratogenicity is aroundthe time of conception.Effects of FAS/FAEAlthough alcohol is the only cause of FAS, there are unfortunatelynumerous effects. Infants with FAS may pack a weak imbibe response and anirregular sucking pattern early in life. Some doc tors describe them asdistracted and fatigued when sucking. Withdrawal symptoms such as prolongedtwitching, jitteriness, sweating, and hyperactivity contain similarly been reported ininfants exhibited to alcohol before birth. (Timberlake and Birch, p.1)Prenatal alcohol word-painting is one of the leading known causes of mentalretardation in the coupled States. Mental retardation is usually mild tomode... ...st bean increase in the number of women who desist from alcohol during theirpregnancies. To reach that goal further search needs to continue. There mustbe an improvement in earthly concern health surveillance methods, a refinement inmethods used for identifying children who have been affected by prenatal alcoholexposure, a demonstration in the effectiveness of primary prevention programs,and an investigation on the effectiveness of subaltern intervention strategies,such as foster-care placement and special education strategies.(Centers for unsoundness Control and Preventio n, p.4)Not all women who drink during pregnancy will have an infant with FAS orFAE, but if there is a 40-50% risk of harming the fetus, why chance it? Womenshould be more careful when drinking, because drinking often leads to arouse evenif it is not planned. The best prevention for FAS/FAE is to either abstain fromsexual intercourse while consuming alcohol, or abstain from alcohol whileplanning a pregnancy. Therefore sexual partners should use birth control.Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects are in full preventable and theresponsibility lies within the role of being parents.