Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Research Paper

In the United States of America, one out of every seven hundred and fifty children is born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Mothers who consume alcohol anytime during pregnancy, puts their children at risk for multiple constellations of abnormalities when they are born. A common condition observed in children affected is optic nerve hypoplasia, which basically is the underdevelopment of the optic nerve during pregnancy. The affected child has abnormal shaped eyes that appear closer together, which can contribute to the poor visual acuity and their dysmorphic facial features shown up to ninety percent of the births. Unilateral may occur infrequently in one eye and more commonly in both eyes known as bilateral optic disc hyperplasia. Nystagmus
Therefore, since alcohol is present myelination is slowed down. Previously studied researchers thought the highest alcohol level reached is between one hundred and fifty and two hundred (milligram) percent. In this experiment we reached four hundred and fifty percent and a decrease in axon numbers of the optic nerve. The results do not match previous studies because of the different amount of alcohols. It is discovered that in normal development forty percent of retinal ganglion cells are lost. Axons lost between nine and fifteen weeks were due to atrophy not hypoplasia. Atrophy is when the cells are continuously lost by natural cause and not because of the under development of the nerves. Myelination is an ongoing process that can cause variation in the number of axons in different ages and stages of development. Overall, there was an increased in the number of smaller myelinated axons in younger ages and larger axons in older ages, which is believed to be cause by the central nervous system. Therefore, the central nervous system is going through a similar process. In conclusion, being under the influence during pregnancy puts your baby at high risk to have reduction in axon number and born with some type of birth