Is fetal alcohol syndrome similar to Down syndrome?

Abstract

Intellectual disability (ID) may be caused by countless disorders and syndromes, many of which are still unknown. Understanding specific syndromes of ID can be helpful in better recognizing distinct presentations as well as being aware of co-occurring psychiatric and medical comorbidities. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, William syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and Prader-Willi syndrome are leading syndromal causes of ID and are described here.

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Is fetal alcohol syndrome related to Down syndrome?
What is similar to fetal alcohol syndrome?
What type of disability is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?
Is it difficult to distinguish a baby with FAS?

Keywords

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
Fragile X syndrome
Prader-Willi syndrome
William syndrome
Autism spectrum disorders
Syndromes of ID

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Department of Psychiatry, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA
Allison E. Cowan

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Allison E. Cowan
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Correspondence to Allison E. Cowan .

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Department of Psychiatry, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA
MD Julie P. Gentile
Department of Psychiatry, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA
MD Allison E. Cowan
San Antonio Military Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA
David W. Dixon

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Cowan, A.E. (2019). Syndromes of Intellectual Disability. In: Gentile, J., Cowan, A., Dixon, D. (eds) Guide to Intellectual Disabilities. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04456-5_15

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04456-5_15
Published: 08 February 2019
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-04455-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04456-5
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Down syndrome and FAS may occur together, at random, in 1 in 525,0000 newborns in United States but 1 in 200,000 in our institution. Estimated incidence of FAS and Down syndrome in our institution was 1 in 6,600, a 30-fold increase over the chance occurrence of these two conditions together.

What is similar to fetal alcohol syndrome?

And other disorders, such as ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and Williams syndrome, have some symptoms like FAS.

What type of disability is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is an alcohol-related birth disability and is the number one cause of intellectual disability in the United States. It is also the only cause of birth defects that is entirely preventable. The condition occurs from maternal alcohol use during pregnancy.

Is it difficult to distinguish a baby with FAS?

How Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnosed? Doctors can diagnose the condition based on a baby's symptoms, especially if they know that the mother drank during pregnancy. In children with milder problems, FASD can be harder to diagnose. No blood test or other medical test can diagnose FASD.