These articles, written by Dr. Scott Gibbs, appeared as regular health columns in the Southeast Missourian newspaper from 1999 to 2002.
Headline
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

   Perhaps one of the most undervalued miracles of our everyday world is human development.  This all begins embryologically around a hollow neural tube that ultimately develops into a complex nervous system.  The central nervous system appears at the beginning of the third week of development as a slipper-shaped plate of thickened tissue called the neural plate.  The edges of this tissue elevate and form folds that ultimately develop into the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system.  Although the timing and order of each developmental event is relatively well understood now through the study of embryology and teratology (study of birth defects), it remains nothing short of amazing that the end result of this process is a unique individual.

  The neuron – the basic constituent of all nervous tissue – is unique in that it possesses the specialized properties for the initiation and conduction of electrical impulses that are essential requirements for a functional nervous system.  This all occurs through specialized intercellular connections that elicit an electrical potential in the receiving neurons.  The organization of the nervous system and its literally hundreds of billions of connections usually occurs flawlessly.  Sometimes nature errors and the result is a birth defect but, more commonly, some mothers make poor behavior choices that result in the permanent damage of their child’s mind.

  In 1973 researchers in the United States published a landmark report describing a constellation of physical, cognitive and behavioral abnormalities including gross retardation, distinctly abnormal facial development and mental retardation known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).  This condition results from the mother’s use of ethanol (alcohol) during her pregnancy.  This alcohol circulates through the woman’s bloodstream and crosses the placenta, affecting the fetus (baby).  The alcohol interferes with the ability of the fetus to receive sufficient oxygen and nourishment for normal cell development, especially in the nervous system.

  In 1991 the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that FAS is the leading known cause of mental retardation and that at least 5,000 infants are born each year with this condition.

  When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, her baby does too and it is not clear what amount of alcohol must be consumed before damage