One reason for the lack of recognition of FASD is that, despite more than 40 years' worth of evidence, FASD is not officially recognized as a medical diagnosis, write Dr. Popova and co-guest editor, Dr. Christina Chambers of the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), in an editorial. After much effort, FASD was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) in 2013 - but only in the appendix as a condition warranting further research. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) only recognizes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Yet FASD may be on the rise in coming years, due to increasing rates of alcohol use, binge drinking and drinking during pregnancy among young women in a number of countries, and the fact that the majority of pregnancies in both developing and developed countries are unplanned, the editors note.