ABSTRACT
The possible teratogenic effects of alcohol on the developing fetus have been suspected for centuries and admonitions against pregnant women drinking alcohol or strong drink date back to biblical times. The adverse effects of alcohol on the developing human represent a spectrum of structural anomalies and behavioral and neurocognitive disabilities, most accurately termed “fetal alcohol spectrum disorders”. There are several problems with the Institute of Medicine diagnostic criteria for fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-related effects. Many mechanisms of teratogenesis have been proposed for ethanol, and it is likely that there is no single mechanism by which alcohol exerts its adverse effects on the developing fetus. It is important for clinicians to remember that children with other genetic and dysmorphic syndromes are born as frequently to women who abuse alcohol as they are to other women in the general population.
