The symptoms of fetal alcohol effects are known as FASD. This refers to a wide range of symptoms caused by exposure to alcohol during the early stages of development. Although some of the children don’t have any physical signs, they could have emotional or mental ones.
Fetal alcohol effects symptoms
These kinds of symptoms involve facial abnormalities, skeletal deformities, growth deficiencies, central nervous system handicaps, organ deformities, and behavioral problems.
Although the effects can be minimized by special education, the majority of the effects last for the entire life.
Facial signs of fetal alcohol effects
There are some specific facial deformities that the majority of the children with FASD have. These include having a small head, webbing between the base of the nose and the eyes, small eye openings, the inability of the eyes to move in the same direction, drooping eyelids and a short and upturned nose.
Further symptoms
There are some other facial symptoms of fetal alcohol effects as well, such as flattened cheekbones, absent or flat groove between the upper lip and nose, sunken nasal bridge, thin and smooth upper lip, small upper jaw, an opening in the roof of the mouth and malformed or low set ears.
Growth deficiencies
When thinking about the fetal alcohol effects signs you should know that these children often have a small body weight and body size, they are unable to catch up in growth and they have a relatively slow physical development, so they might look younger than other children their age.
Skeletal deformities
The parents should also know that other symptoms of fetal alcohol effects include deformed sternum and ribs, curved spine, bent, webbed or fused toes or fingers, extra fingers, limited mobility of the joints, small skull, hip dislocations, excessive hair and underdeveloped toenails and fingernails.
Organ deformities
In case you are interested in the warning signs of fetal alcohol effects, you should know that the doctors often find heart defects, underdeveloped brain, heart murmurs, genital malformations, urinary or kidney defects and diaphragmatic or umbilical hernia. These children may also be affected by poor memory, poor language skills, irritability in infancy, and hyperactivity.
Although no parent wishes to see the symptoms of fetal alcohol effects, it is important to keep an eye out for them especially if the mother has been drinking during her pregnancy. It is crucial to take appropriate measures as soon as possible to improve the child’s quality of life.
