Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a serious health problem that tragically affects its victims and their families, but that is completely preventable.
Causing a child to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome is really nothing short of child abuse and it lasts for life. Babies born with FAS tend to weigh less and be shorter than normal. They usually suffer from:
- Smaller heads
- Deformed facial features
- Abnormal joints and limbs
- Poor coordination
- Problems with learning
- Short memories
Victims of fetal alcohol syndrome often experience mental health problems, disrupted school experience, inappropriate sexual behavior, trouble with the law, alcohol and drug problems, difficulty caring for themselves and their children, and homelessness.
Possible FAS Symptoms:
- Growth deficiencies: small body size and weight, slower than normal development and failure to catch up.
- Skeletal deformities: deformed ribs and sternum; curved spine; hip dislocations; bent, fused, webbed, or missing fingers or toes; limited movement of joints; small head.
- Facial abnormalities: small eye openings; skin webbing between eyes and base of nose; drooping eyelids; nearsightedness; failure of eyes to move in same direction; short upturned nose; sunken nasal bridge; flat or absent groove between nose and upper lip; thin upper lip; opening in roof of mouth; small jaw; low-set or poorly formed ears.
- Organ deformities: heart defects; heart murmurs; genital malformations; kidney and urinary defects.
Central nervous system handicaps: small brain; faulty arrangement of brain cells and connective tissue; mental retardation -- usually mild to moderate but occasionally severe; learning disabilities; short attention span; irritability in infancy; hyperactivity in childhood; poor body, hand, and finger coordination.
