Alcohol's Effect On The Fetus
Fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS is a disorder of permanent birth defects that occurs in the offspring of women who drink alcohol during pregnancy. Drinking heavily or during the early stages of prenatal development has been conclusively linked to FAS; moderate consumption is associated with fetal damage. Alcohol crosses the placental barrier and can stunt fetal growth or weight, create distinctive facial stigmata, damaged neurons and brain structures, and cause other physical, mental, or behavioural problems. Fetal alcohol exposure is the leading known cause of mental retardation in the Western world. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with brain insulin and insulin-like growth factor resistance.
Read more about this topic: Long-term Effects Of Alcohol
Famous quotes containing the words alcohol, effect and/or fetus:
“Two great European narcotics, alcohol and Christianity.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“No being exists or can exist which is not related to space in some way. God is everywhere, created minds are somewhere, and body is in the space that it occupies; and whatever is neither everywhere nor anywhere does not exist. And hence it follows that space is an effect arising from the first existence of being, because when any being is postulated, space is postulated.”
—Isaac Newton (1642–1727)
“We really need to get over this love affair with the fetus and start worrying about children.”
—Joycelyn Elders (b. 1933)