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Sunday, March 22, 2015

FASD News - 11/2015

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.

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