NEWS and ARTICLES
U-T San Diego (South Africa) - SAfrica
report on sick baby triggers media, politics debate
"Baby Thomas
never had a chance," begins a South African newspaper report
about the toll of fetal alcohol syndrome. The baby's alcoholic mother
was a grape harvester who was paid in bottles of wine, it said.
Medscape (USA) -
Extreme Rate of Prenatal Alcohol Disorders in Poor
The prevalence of
neurodevelopmental disorders associated with prenatal alcohol
exposure (ND-PAE) is extreme in low-income patients, new research
suggests.
Health Aim
(Australia) - Pregnant Woman Denied A Glass Of Wine
A woman, who was
36.5 weeks pregnant, was astonished when she was refused of a single
glass of sparkling wine to celebrate her wedding anniversary last
March 17. This happened at Mac’s Brewbar at the Nuffield Street
Trading Company in Auckland, Australia.
Digital Journal -
Announcing a Unique Holistic Approach to Rehab for Pregnant Women
at New Directions for Women
Though the dangers
of combining pregnancy with chemical dependency are well known, the
all-too-common nature of the problems this deadly combination causes
has spurred the womens-only rehab facility New Directions for Women
to take a unique female- and family-oriented approach.
The Age
(Australia) - Baird pledges $2.3 million to fight fetal alcohol
spectrum disorder, new centre
NSW will open the
first Australian centre dedicated to diagnosing and treating children
damaged by their mother's drinking during pregnancy, under an
election commitment from the Liberal government.
CBC.ca (Canada) -
Whitehorse lawyer to talk to federal committee about FASD bill
A Whitehorse
member of the Canadian Bar Association will address the House of
Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights about
amendments to Bill C-583 today via video link. The private member's
bill, first introduced by Yukon MP Ryan Leef, would help recognize
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder as a brain disease.
The Daily
Telegraph - Don’t kid yourself, drinking while pregnant isn’t
harmless warns Kerry Parnell
How many times
have you heard that statement from a pregnant woman as she
confidently quaffs a glass of wine?
AllAfrica.com -
South Africa: SA Today - We Cannot Be Sidetracked in the Fight
Against Foetal Alcohol Syndrome
It is unforgivable
that the most common cause of mental disability in the world is 100%
preventable.
Anishinabek News
(Canada) - ‘No Shame, No Blame’ FASD conference aims to bring
awareness
The North Shore
Tribal Council (NSTC) held its fifth annual Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder Conference at the Serpent River First Nation Lifestyles
Centre in Cutler on March 3.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Free Training Event on the Impact of
FASD in Child-Serving Systems - April 23
This free training
explores the impact of FASD in the child welfare and court systems
and would benefit professionals that work with these child-serving
systems i.e. CPS employees, CASA volunteers, legal professionals,
foster and adoptive parents, Recovery Coaches, Home Visitors,
Juvenile Justice professionals, Policy Advocates, and Behavioral
Health and Developmental Disabilities professionals.
VIDEOS and
MATERIALS
forebygging.no -
The Body-Behaviour Connection: A first hand perspective about FASD
Liz Lawryk, Chief
Clinical Examiner and Executive Director of the FASD Foundation,
Canada. Myles Himmelreich, living with FASD he provides a
multidimentional, educational perspective.
Educalcool
(Canada) - ALCOHOL AND WOMEN
Women are more
vulnerable than men to the effects of alcohol because of differences
in their weight and body composition, and the way they metabolize
alcohol. However, social norms, not biology, are the primary reason
why women who drink too much are more vulnerable to physical and
sexual violence. These are the main conclusions of the latest
publication in the Alcohol and Health series from Éduc’alcool,
which is being released in time for International Women’s Day.
Conference
Presentations - 6th International FASD Conference presentations
Alcohol-Free
Pregnancy - NOFAS Webinar: Treating FASD with Nutritional
Interventions
Dr. Wozniak will
present background information on brain imaging studies (his own and
others) examining the impact of prenatal alcohol use on child brain
development. In addition, he will describe a recently completed set
of clinical trials that tested a non-drug, nutritional intervention
for brain development in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
RESEARCH
PLoS One -
Moderate prenatal alcohol exposure enhances GluN2B containing NMDA
receptor binding and ifenprodil sensitivity in rat agranular insular
cortex
Prenatal exposure
to alcohol affects the expression and function of glutamatergic
neurotransmitter receptors in diverse brain regions. The present
study was undertaken to fill a current gap in knowledge regarding the
regional specificity of ethanol-related alterations in glutamatergic
receptors in the frontal cortex.
Amino Acids -
Maternal L-glutamine supplementation prevents prenatal alcohol
exposure-induced fetal growth restriction in an ovine model
Prenatal alcohol
exposure is known to cause fetal growth restriction and disturbances
in amino acid bioavailability. Alterations in these parameters can
persist into adulthood and low birth weight can lead to altered fetal
programming.
Behavioural Brain
Research - Docosahexaenoic acid partially ameliorates deficits in
social behavior and ultrasonic vocalizations caused by prenatal
ethanol exposure
Prenatal ethanol
exposure disrupts social behavior in humans and rodents. One system
particularly important for social behavior is the somatosensory
system. Prenatal ethanol exposure alters the structure and function
of this area.
Alcoholism:
Clinical and Experimental Research - The impact of prenatal
alcohol exposure on hippocampal-dependent outcome measures is
influenced by prenatal and early-life rearing conditions
The clinical
course of individuals exposed to alcohol in utero is influenced by
multiple factors, including the social environments of the gravid
female and offspring. In the present studies we focused on the
effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and the prenatal and
early-life social environments on the hippocampal formation, as
impaired development and functioning of this brain region have been
implicated in several of the adverse cognitive outcomes associated
with PAE.
Neuroimage:
Clinical - Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the development
of white matter volume and change in executive function
Prenatal alcohol
exposure can cause a wide range of deficits in executive function
that persist throughout life, but little is known about how changes
in brain structure relate to cognition in affected individuals.
Journal of
Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine - The effect of prenatal
alcohol co-exposure on neonatal abstinence syndrome in infants born
to mothers in opioid maintenance treatment
This study
examined the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on the
incidence and severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
Neuroimage:
Clinical - A tensor-based morphometry analysis of regional
differences in brain volume in relation to prenatal alcohol exposure
Reductions in
brain volumes represent a neurobiological signature of fetal alcohol
spectrum disorders (FASD). Less clear is how regional brain tissue
reductions differ after normalizing for brain size differences linked
with FASD and whether these profiles can predict the degree of
prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Neuropsychopharmacology
- Excitatory synaptic function and plasticity is persistently
altered in ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons after prenatal
ethanol exposure
Prenatal ethanol
exposure (PE) is one of the developmental factors leading to
increased addiction propensity (risk). However, the neuronal
mechanisms underlying this effect remain unknown.
Placenta - Dose
effect of gestational ethanol exposure on placentation and fetal
growth
Prenatal ethanol
exposure compromises fetal growth by impairing placentation. Invasive
trophoblastic cells, which mediate placentation, express the
insulin-IGF regulated gene, aspartyl-asparaginyl β-hydroxylase
(ASPH), which has a critical role in cell motility and invasion.
Birth Defects
Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology - Methods for
surveillance of fetal alcohol syndrome: the fetal alcohol syndrome
surveillance network II (FASSNetII) - Arizona, Colorado, New York,
2009 – 2014
Surveillance of
fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is important for monitoring the effects
of prenatal alcohol exposure and describing the public health burden
of this preventable disorder. Building on the infrastructure of the
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Surveillance Network (FASSNet, 1997–2002),
in 2009 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded 5-year
cooperative agreements to three states, Arizona, Colorado, and New
York, to conduct population-based surveillance of FAS.
FASEB Journal -
Maternal alcohol intake around the time of conception causes
glucose intolerance and insulin insensitivity in rat offspring, which
is exacerbated by a postnatal high-fat diet
Alcohol
consumption throughout pregnancy can cause metabolic dysregulation,
including glucose intolerance in progeny. This study determined if
periconceptional (PC) alcohol (12% v/v in a liquid diet) (PC:EtOH)
consumed exclusively around conception results in similar outcomes in
Sprague-Dawley rats.
Journal of
Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics - Do pediatricians
recognize fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in children with
developmental and behavioral problems?
Limited studies
have examined pediatricians' knowledge, attitudes, and practice about
fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), and none have examined
alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disabilities (ARND).
Journal of
Neurodevelopmental Disorders - Visual search for feature
conjunctions: an fMRI study comparing alcohol-related
neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) to ADHD
Alcohol-related
neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) falls under the umbrella of fetal
alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Diagnosis of ARND is difficult
because individuals do not demonstrate the characteristic facial
features associated with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).
IN OTHER LANGUAGES
fakt.pl (Poland) -
Lekarz: Ciężarne pijaczki z Polski upijają się w ukryciu
Alkoholowy Zespół
Płodowy (w skrócie FAS - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) to nieuleczalna
choroba, która powstaje, gdy matka piła alkohol w czasie ciąży.
SPIEGEL ONLINE
(Germany) - Tausende betroffene Kinder: Wie Alkohol in der
Schwangerschaft schadet
Aggressionen,
fehlende Orientierung, Hilflosigkeit: Wer im Mutterleib Alkohol
ausgesetzt ist, startet oft in ein kompliziertes Leben. Viele
Schwangere unterschätzen die Risiken des Trinkens, warnen Experten.
SME.sk (Slovakia)
- Strašiak menom FAS
Ak sa budúca
matka rozhodne vypiť kedykoľvek počas tehotenstva alkoholický
nápoj, riskuje tým trvalé poškodenie svojho nenarodeného
dieťaťa, ktoré môže trpieť syndrómom FAS.
