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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
By peace | June 16, 2008
Alcohol (wine, beer, or liquor) is the leading known preventable cause of mental and physical birth defects. When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, she risks giving birth to a child who may be born with mental and physical deficiencies for his or her entire life.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome(FAS) is one of the leading known causes of mental retardation and birth defects. If a woman drinks alcohol during her pregnancy, her baby can be born with FAS, a lifelong, physically and mentally disabling condition.
Addiction will never be cured by a pill. Indeed, when you understand addiction, the idea of a pill for curing it makes no sense. That is because addiction results when people’s lives are unbalanced. It cannot be remedied by a pill, just as a pill cannot balance people’s lives. Women who have ‘habitual habits’ or addicted to drinking alcohol needs lots of determination and will to stop drinking if they want to deliver a healthy baby.
Research indicates that heavy drinking by expectant mothers can affect the health of unborn babies. Newborn infants whose mothers drank heavily during pregnancy have been found to have frequent physical and behavioural abnormalities and may experience symptoms of withdrawal. For example, such infants have shown growth deficiencies, facial and limb irregularities, and central nervous system dysfunction.
Alcohol abuse in pregnant women is the third-leading cause of birth defects (the first two being Down syndrome and spina bifida, the latter referring to the incomplete formation and fusion of the spinal canal and one of the leading causes of mental retardation). Fetal alcohol syndrome is also associated with the development of mental disorder in adults.
There are many women alcoholics nowadays. Alcohol abuse and dependence are difficult to treat because many alcoholics refuse to admit that they have a problem or seek assistance before they ‘hit bottom’, and many that do go into drug treatment leave before therapy is completed. Di Clemente(1993) refers to the addictions as ‘diseases of denial’. In a survey that included more than 60 000 treated alcoholics, Booth, Cook and Blow (1992) reported that 11% left treatment against medical advice. When alcoholics are confronted with their drinking problem, they may react with denial or become angry at the ‘messenger’ and withdraw from this person.
A multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of drinking problems appears to be most effective because the problems are often complex, requiring flexibility and individualization of treatment procedures. Also, an alcoholic’s needs change as treatment progresses. Treatment program objectives usually includerehabilitation, detoxification, control over alcohol-abuse behaviour, and development of an individual’s realization that he or she can cope with the problems of living and lead a much more rewarding life without alcohol.
Traditional treatment programs usually have as their goal abstinence from alcohol. However, some programs attempt to promote controlled drinking as a treatment goal for problem drinkers. No matter what the treatment method, however, relapse is common and is seen as part of the treatment and recovery process by many in the field.
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