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Sunday, June 1, 2014

FASD News - 21/2014

NEWS and ARTICLES
Southernminn.com (USA) - Parents of children with fetal alcohol syndrome find lack of resources in Faribault, out-state Minnesota
This is the second of a two-part series on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, its cost to the state and how state funding impacts access to community-based healthcare services which vary from county to county.
Vibe Ghana (Ghana) - International Confab on Fetal Alcohol Disorder opens
Research has shown that alcohol consumption has dangerous consequences for females than males and was responsible for the occurrence of some disabilities among some children.
The Australian (Australia) - Fetal syndrome ‘must be recognised as disability’
THE federal government’s reluctance to recognise fetal alcohol spectrum disorder as a disability had deprived many Aboriginal children of the correct treatment.
Mesabi Daily News (USA) - FAS catching eyeballs
A black billboard containing the image of a glass of alcohol and a baby inside of a caution sign is currently catching the eyes of individuals traveling along Highway 169 near Fourth Avenue East.
Communitycare.co.uk (UK) - Adults with alcohol-related brain damage ‘inappropriately’ placed in care homes, medics warn
Adults with alcohol-related brain damage are being placed inappropriately in nursing homes due to a lack of understanding about the condition within health and social care, says a report by a group of leading medical organisations.
Marlborough Express (New Zealand) - '3000 babies affected' by mothers' drinking
Children with foetal alcohol syndrome are being all too commonly misdiagnosed, leading to health complications and wasted resources.
Anchorage Daily News - Carol Hatch steers six alcohol-damaged children into adulthood
For a quarter-century, Carol Hatch has lived in a big brown house off Arctic Boulevard, raising a family not quite like any other in Alaska.
wbur.org - Addicted And Pregnant: 'The Most Heart-Wrenching Experience Of My Life'
At the time, I had been doing a lot of meth. I was fortunate if I remembered to eat one meal a day. Refilling my birth-control prescription had become just another missed detail in a life that had ceased to have much meaning for me.
NIH Record - NIAAA’s Warren Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
The Research Society on Alcoholism has selected NIAAA deputy director Dr. Kenneth R. Warren to receive the RSA Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes a person with a long, balanced career whose contributions to alcohol research, training, service and advocacy have had a lasting impact on the field.
Yukon Government (Canada) - Yukon leads the country with the start of FASD prevalence study
In partnership with the Child & Family Research Institute at BC Children’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia (UBC), the Department of Justice has begun a study evaluating the prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in individuals who are incarcerated or on probation in Yukon.

UPCOMING
Decoding FASD: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Conference - 14th October 2014
Decoding FASD: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Conference for health professional (GPs, health visitors, nurses), social workers, foster carers, teachers, parents and guardians.
Third European Conference on FASD - 20 to 22 October 2014
Building on the success of the first European conference on FASD (Kerkrade, Netherlands, 2010) and the second European conference on FASD (Barcelona, Spain, 2012), we are pleased to announce the third European conference on FASD, to be held in Rome.

VIDEOS and MATERIALS
YourAlberta - Technology and FASD
Dr. Jacquie Pei reviews new and existing research using technological innovations with individuals with FASD and discusses new technology that may be useful in FASD.
YourAlberta - FASD and Criminal Responsibility
Dr. Vinesh Gupta provides an overview of the concept of Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) and the applicability of NCR defense for clients with FASD.
CBC News - Groundbreaking FASD research in Manitoba gets $1.35M boost
Research efforts in Canada and Israel to find ways to detect fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) earlier in children have received a million-dollar boost.
Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres - Validation of the Canadian-developed Screening Test for Behavioral Phenotype of FASD
We have recently developed and validated a novel screening test for the Behavioural Phenotype of FASD. Stemming from the CBCL, the original test is valid only for 6-13 year old children.
YourAlberta - Children's Mental Health Learning Series
Research about parents with intellectual disability and their children is presented. A discussion of strategies to build systems capacity to support parents with intellectual disabilities and promote a healthy start to life for their children is included.
National American Indian & Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center - Overview of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders BH May 2014

RESEARCH
American Psychiatric Association - Fetal Alcohol Exposure Among African Americans
Having worked with poor, African-American patients in various educational, mental health, correctional, and foster care settings for more than 40 years, I feel obligated to draw attention to a major public health phenomenon that plagues these populations: fetal alcohol exposure (FAE). FAE is a hidden epidemic in poor African-American communities, where liquor stores are a ubiquitous and thriving business.
MidwiferyJournal.com - Alcohol consumption during pregnancy: Cross-sectional survey
In this study pregnant women attending an antenatal appointment were willing to complete brief alcohol screening questionnaires. A minority of women reported drinking pre-conception and/or during the first trimester with a small percentage drinking at levels potentially harmful to the fetus.
TheClinics.com - Substance Abuse During Pregnancy
This issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America deals with the timely subject of substance use during pregnancy. Alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use is prevalent among reproductive-age women. Even though a reduction in use often occurs during pregnancy, many women continue to use substances until a pregnancy is either actually diagnosed or well underway. Patient interviews and urine toxicologic testing at the initial prenatal visit and at delivery suggest that substance use during pregnancy ranges from 0.4% to 27%, depending on the population surveyed.
Alcoholism - An Evolutionarily Conserved Mechanism of Calcium-Dependent Neurotoxicity in a Zebrafish Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
The calcium/CaMKII mechanism of EtOH's neurotoxicity is shared between an amniote (chick) and teleost fish, indicating that this mechanism is evolutionarily conserved. Our data suggest that EtOHext concentrations >2% (v/v) for chorion-intact embryos and 1.5% (v/v) for dechorionated embryos have limited clinical relevance. The strong parallels with established models endorse the zebrafish's relevance for mechanistic studies of EtOH's developmental neurotoxicity.
Alcoholism - A Screen of Zebrafish Mutants Identifies Ethanol-Sensitive Genetic Loci
Our results provide insight into the gene–EtOH interactions that may underlie EtOH teratogenesis. They support previous findings that EtOH disrupts elongation of the embryonic axis. Importantly, these results show that the zebrafish is an efficient model with which to test for gene–EtOH interactions. Understanding these interactions will be crucial to understanding of the FASD variation.
Alcohol - Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence: effects on social behavior and ethanol sensitivity in adulthood
This study assessed long-lasting consequences of repeated ethanol exposure during two different periods of adolescence on 1) baseline levels of social investigation, play fighting, and social preference and 2) sensitivity to the social consequences of acute ethanol challenge.
Alcoholism - Differential Effects of the Histamine H3 Receptor Agonist Methimepip on Dentate Granule Cell Excitability, Paired-Pulse Plasticity and Long-Term Potentiation in Prenatal Alcohol-Exposed Rats
We previously reported that prenatal alcohol-induced deficits in dentate gyrus (DG) long-term potentiation (LTP) are ameliorated by the histamine H3 receptor inverse agonist ABT-239. ABT-239 did not enhance LTP in control rats, suggesting that the possibility of a heightened H3 receptor-mediated inhibition of LTP in prenatal alcohol-exposed (PAE) offspring.
Alcoholism - Brief Prenatal Ethanol Exposure Alters Behavioral Sensitivity to the Kappa Opioid Receptor Agonist (U62,066E) and Antagonist (Nor-BNI) and Reduces Kappa Opioid Receptor Expression
Overall, these data suggest that prenatal EtOH affects kappa opioid function and expression and that these changes may be involved in increased drinking later in life.

IN OTHER LANGUAGES
State of Mind (Italy) - Sindrome alcolica fetale e problemi di attenzione: è possible che vengano sovrastimati?
I ricercatori della McGill University di Montréal, Canada, hanno suggerito che spesso i problemi attentivi dei bambini con Sindrome Alcolica Fetale (FASD) vengano riportati in modo eccessivo da genitori e insegnanti.
Badische Zeitung (Germany) - Fatale Folgen für das Kind
Können Sie sich jemanden vorstellen, der seinem Baby alkoholische Getränke ins Fläschchen gibt? Schon bei dieser Frage schütteln doch die meisten entsetzt mit dem Kopf. Nichts sehr viel anderes ist aber der Konsum von Alkohol während der Schwangerschaft.
inSüdthüringen.de (Germany) - Ein Püppchen, das wach rütteln soll
Brita Siebert entwarf für Heike Kramer, Vorstand der Ärztlichen Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsförderung ein Baby, das die Folgen von Alkoholkonsums in der Schwangerschaft deutlich zeigt.


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