For thousands of years, alcohol has played a major part of human life. Since ancient times, various civilizations have used alcohol for leisure, trade, and religious rites. With the passage of time, multiple civilizations dwindled and vanished, whereas the use of alcohol only grew. In the present time, it is believed that as much as 40% of the world’s adult population consumes alcohol, with an average yearly alcohol consumption of 17.1 L per drinker. Furthermore, it appears that the number of women, in particular, who consume alcohol, has been increasing, whereby it is estimated that 50% of women of child bearing age in the US consume alcohol in various degrees. For nonpregnant women, physicians and many researchers define light drinking as 1.2 drinks per day, moderate drinking as 2.2 drinks per day and heavy drinking as 3.5 or more drinks per day.
Moreover, 40% of the 4 million annual pregnancies in the US drink alcohol, and among them 3-5% drink heavily. It wasn’t until 1968 and 1973 that the first descriptions of a fetal syndrome linked to maternal alcohol abuse during pregnancy appeared in modern medical literature. The current medical term for this syndrome is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). It includes findings such as midfacial hypoplasia, thin upper lip, widely spaced small eyes, long smooth philtrum and inner epicanthal folds. Other findings include growth restriction as well as various neurodevelopmental abnormalities. The incidence of FAS is estimated to vary between 0.5 and 3/1000 live births in the USA and Canada.
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