(ADD), Cancer, Schizophrenia Linked to Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

FOURTEENTH IN A SERIES BY: BRUCE RITCHIE
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of FASD.


Prenatal alcohol exposure can produce a host of other disorders and serious medical health problems. It would be irresponsible of me to let people think that FASD is the only result. Here are a few:

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Inability to filter out distractions. Little or no retained memory – often cannot focus long enough to retain information. Learning disabilities. Mental health issues.

Cancer

Including: Childhood acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and Childhood acute non-lymphoid leukemia (ANLL).

Heart

Cardiovascular and metabolic medical disorders, including ischemic heart disease, enlarged heart (cardiac hypertrophy), hypertension (high blood pressure), Interventricular septal defect, Atrial septal defect, insulin resistance, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Diabetes Insipidus

This is a condition characterized by excessive thirst and excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, with reduction of fluid intake having no effect on the concentration of the urine.

Schizophrenia

The odds of the appearance of six psychiatric disorders and traits were more than double in adults exposed to one or more binge alcohol episodes in utero. Three of these six odds ratios were uniformly stable against confounding axis I substance dependence or abuse disorders and axis II passive-aggressive and antisocial personality disorders or traits. Prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to early alcohol use and abuse in youth, leading to prenatal alcohol exposure in their offspring – a vicious circle creating a new generation with FASD.