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ALPS syndrome and its impact on the child's educational and social development, part 1

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ALPS syndrome and its impact on the child's educational and social development, part 1

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Alcohol in young people

ALPS, or foetal alcohol syndrome, is a condition resulting from a pregnant woman's consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. ALPS brings with it many difficulties for the child, causing developmental disorders, learning difficulties and delayed psychomotor and social and emotional development. This is influenced by the damage done by teratogenic ethanol entering the placenta during pregnancy.

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A problem for many women

Alcohol consumption by pregnant women is now becoming an increasingly common habit for women around the world. The scale of drinking during pregnancy, both globally and in Poland, is becoming one of the most pressing problems, all the more so as there is a widespread view that alcohol, especially beer or red wine, is harmless. However, as life verifies, many disorders and developmental defects are caused by the mother's drinking, mainly during the first three months of pregnancy. The danger of drinking during pregnancy is that even a small amount of alcohol can cause pathological changes, contrary to the common belief that such a small amount will do no harm.

According to a PARPA study, the number of women of childbearing age, i.e. between 18 and 40 years old, say that they drank alcohol during pregnancy. The younger the woman (19%), the greater and more frequent the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy - a similar relationship is found in women with higher education (33%) and in 'everyday' drinkers (57%) [1].

ALPS - Fetal Alcohol Sy ndrome - is a syndrome of physical and mental abnormalities that occur after foetal exposure to alcohol. Ethanol has strong teratogenic properties and a high capacity to rapidly cross the placenta, and what is more, it is a cause of disruption of biochemical processes, simply resulting in severe and profound developmental disorders of the foetus (sometimes even greater than drug use).

There is no clear answer to the question posed by women - how much alcohol consumed during pregnancy can harm the baby? The effects of drinking vary depending on the amount, the type of alcohol and the stage of development of the embryo. It is a rule of thumb that the greater the amount of teratogenic substance consumed, the greater the likelihood of brain damage, but as mentioned earlier, it cannot be ruled out that even a single consumption can lead to greater damage. Research is currently underway into factors indicative of a predisposition to ALPS, but this research is in the laboratory phase of genetic testing [2].

Developmental disorders, Development-deficits, Fas, Fetal-alcohol syndrome, Teratogenic effect of ethanol on the fetus

photo: panthermedia

Epidemiology

ALPS occurs with a frequency of 3-9 per 1000 live births worldwide, but these values vary from country to country. In Poland, the estimated values are 3-5 children per 1 000 who are born with full-blown ALPS, but about 10 times more children have no symptoms visible at first sight, although developmental defects are noticeable [1].

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How does the pathology occur?

It is worth noting that the appearance of ALPS syndrome is not the result of fetal alcohol dependence , nor can it be acquired during birth - it is the result of a woman's consumption of alcoholic substances during pregnancy. The nervous system is particularly at risk, as it develops at the very beginning of pregnancy and continues to develop throughout the pregnancy, so a lot of damage can occur.

Pregnancy is a time of numerous cell divisions, multiplication and differentiation - thanks to this process, regions of the brain differentiate and it should be noted that the process of brain formation only takes place during this period, as no more nerve cells are formed in the human brain after birth. Alcohol, as a teratogenic agent, interferes with these processes, causing the death of nerve cells and abnormalities in differentiation. The child who is born is therefore 'burdened' with a deficiency, a reduced number of neurons.

The nerve cells also undergo a phase of migration during pregnancy, going to their intended destinations, together with adjacent tissues to form whole structures. Alcohol is the cause of migration to the wrong place, and thus the brain structure cannot be created properly.

The functional relationships that the nervous system forms with other structures are the pathway for brain development - they make the brain a malleable structure. Alcohol acts as a developmental disadvantage here - it introduces disorder through an inadequate network of connections, and as a result, a person with ALPS has difficulty perceiving the surrounding world correctly [3].