World Health Organization's "WHO Global Status Report

SIXTH IN A SERIES by BRUCE RITCHIE 

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of FASD.

Results of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

Results of prenatal exposure to alcohol can include Neurological, Physical, Behavioural and Social issues. The World Health Organization's "WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004 - Health effects and global burden of disease" states, "Alcohol use is related to a wide range of physical, mental and social harms. Most health professionals agree that alcohol affects practically every organ in the human body. Alcohol consumption was linked to more than 60 disease conditions. In the developed countries, 9.2% of all the disease burden is attributable to alcohol, only exceeded by the burden attributable to tobacco and blood pressure."

“Maternal alcohol consumption even at low levels was adversely related to child behavior; a doseresponse relationship was also identified. The effect was observed at average levels of exposure of as low as 1 drink per week.” (Pediatrics Vol. 108 No. 2 August 2001, p. e34).

“Even brief exposures to small amounts of alcohol may kill brain cells in a developing fetus. A study carried out by John Olney, M.D., at the Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis showed that just two drinks consumed during pregnancy may be enough to kill some developing brain cells, leading to permanent brain damage. Nerve cells will die if they fail to make synaptic connections in time. Drinking alcohol can interfere with the formation of these connections. Based on the animal studies carried out by Dr. Olney, it does not take much alcohol to have this effect. In unborn mice, the concentration of alcohol needed to kill developing brain cells was 0.07 percent. In most women, two cocktails are enough to elevate blood alcohol levels to this amount. Dr. Olney's advice is for pregnant women to completely avoid alcohol until further research can better explain the sensitivity of developing brain cells to alcohol.” (Addiction Biology 2004 Jun;9(2):137-49)

“Studies done at the University of British Columbia may have uncovered the link between prenatal alcohol exposure and some of the long-term symptoms of FASD. Alcohol consumption affects both the maternal and fetal endocrine systems, altering the interaction between maternal-fetal hormones.

Additionally, exposure to alcohol can cause reprogramming of theothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the fetus so that HPA tone is increased throughout life. Increasing HPA tone causes excess secretion of glucocorticoids. This in turn leads to altered behavioral and physiologic responses. Glucocorticoid secretion also causes suppression of the immune system which will  increase the individual’s vulnerability to disease later in life. The endocrine affects of alcohol exposure may explain the behavioral, cognitive, and immune deficits seen in patients with FASD.”

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Fetal Alcohol Effects, (FAE), Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (pFAS), Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ARND), Static Encephalopathy (alcohol exposed) (SE) and Alcohol Related Birth Defects (ARBD), are all names for a spectrum of disorders caused when a pregnant woman consumes alcohol.