Mothers who drink too much can have children with a disorder called fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and while that’s been known, new research suggests how this damage is done and that there may be a connection with addiction later in life.
Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs in between 2 and 15 of every 10,000 live births, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and causes facial abnormalities, slow growth, and malfunctions in the central nervous system.
Susan M. Smith, 45, a biochemist who is a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, led the recent research.