rgy sources. The materials needed for cell proliferation, growth, and differentiation are also affected in this. The supplemental glucose thus becomes only minimally effective because of the lack of diminution of fetal growth retardation. (Michaelis and Michaelis, p. 21) Included within the nutritional deficiencies that occur are the loss of vitamins B6 and A. There is noted decrease in the transfer of B6 from an alcoholic mother to her fetus through the placenta. This vitamin is especially important in the development of the fetus because it functions as protein metabolism. There exists also a possible defect in the metabolism of folic acid. The lack of which during the gestation period produces malformations in the fetus. The last vitamin deficiency that I will note revolves around the receiving of vitamin A from the alcoholic mother to the fetus via the placenta. "There is no sufficient evidence to support that there is actually a vitamin A deficiency, but it appears that the vitamin accumulates in the liver of the alcohol-exposed fetus. This suggests that the vitamin is not being metabolized normally. Since this vitamin is supposed to normally produce retinoic acid, which is significant to development, it is a very vital ingredient in the nutritionally diet of the mother. Retinoic acid functions as a chemical agent of the activation of DNA; The lessening of this particular vitamin is said what may be responsible for the delays and malformations seen in FAS." (Michaelis and Michaelis, p. 22) The release and production of hormonal factors are needed to be supplied to the fetus through the mother for normal development and this is yet another fact that is tampered within the mother who drinks throughout her pregnancy. The production and release of hormones from both the maternal and fetal glands and from the placenta influence the formation and development of tissues as diverse as the brain and the palate. In experimental animals expos...
