Fetal alcohol syndrome is a disease that falls in the spectrum of fetal alcohol disorders. This term also relates to diseases such as fetal partial alcohol syndrome, as well as some neurodevelopmental disorders which connect to alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The disease causes mental problems, behavioral and learning. They are also frequent some physical disabilities.

The negative effects of alcohol on intrauterine development are a recent discovery. The first research about it dates back to 1968 and opened the doors to the study of a wide range of fetal disorders. Yet studies show that the chances of damage to the fetus increases proportionally with the consumption of alcohol. The greatest risk occurs in the case of regular consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. however, it required only the alcohol sporadic consumption to impair the development, whatever the time of pregnancy.

The consequences of fetal alcohol syndrome ranging from physical disabilities to mental. Many have heart problems, bone and heard, while others have facial dismorfologie and growth deficits. They are often identified problems through prenatal screening techniques, which can be extremely debilitating during childhood and adult life. The exposure to alcohol in the womb but also causes cognitive and psychosocial limited, much more difficult to spot problems. For this reason, fetal alcohol syndrome in most cases is detected when the child is already of school age.

Consuming alcohol during pregnancy exposes to a risk of about 30% to give birth to a sick child. It is believed that they act different factors in conjunction with the consumption of alcohol, but do not yet know what. For the moment the only valid prevention method is simply avoid drinking during pregnancy.