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Sunday, May 31, 2015

FASD News - 21/2015

Benzinga (Canada) - Parliament One Step Closer: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder & The Criminal Code
The Canadian justice system is one step closer to recognising the potential impacts of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. This week the Canada Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research Network (CanFASD) was acknowledged by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights as a 'vital' contributor in its report on Bill C-583, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code.
Scoop.co.nz (New Zealand) - Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Statistics on the Rise
Health and community workers across Northland are concerned at the growing number of young people who are being diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). At a forum on ‘FASD and Justice’ held in Whangarei last Friday, attended by more than 120 people, concerns were raised about the suspected number of children that may be affected by their mothers drinking during pregnancy in the region.
3News NZ (New Zealand) - Judge: NZ courts ill-equipped for foetal alcohol cases
What's Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)? Had our courts known the answer twenty years ago, Teina Pora would have likely led a very different life.
Logan Daily News - Speaking of Your Health: Alcohol and drug-related birth defects
May 10-16 was Alcohol & Drug-Related Birth Defects Awareness Week. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) plays a major and vital role across the US in educating people, especially women, about the dangers of consuming alcohol and using drugs during pregnancy.
Neurology Advisor - Fetal Alcohol Exposure Influences Brain Structure, Gene Function
Alcohol consumed early on in pregnancy may affect gene function in the brains of offspring, findings from a mouse model indicate.
Los Angeles Times (USA) - Raising a foster child damaged by alcohol
In three weeks, Kathryn White's son Chris will turn 18. There will be a little birthday celebration — and a hint of desperation.

MATERIALS
KNOWFASD - KnowFASD
This site introduces the neurobehavioural difficulties that may appear throughout the lifespan of individuals with FASD. It is important to recognize that, being a spectrum disorder, FASD can look different for different individuals.

RESEARCH
PLoS One - Pre- and postnatal exposure to moderate levels of ethanol can have long-lasting effects on hippocampal glutamate uptake in adolescent offspring
The developing brain is vulnerable to the effects of ethanol. Glutamate is the main mediator of excitatory signals in the brain and is probably involved in most aspects of normal brain function during development.
Synapse - Voluntary exercise partially reverses neonatal alcohol-induced deficits in mPFC Layer II/III dendritic morphology of male adolescent rats
Developmental alcohol exposure in humans can produce a wide range of deficits collectively referred to as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). FASD-related impairments in executive functioning later in life suggest long-term damage to the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
PLoS One - Early maternal alcohol consumption alters hippocampal DNA methylation, gene expression and volume in a mouse model
The adverse effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy are known, but the molecular events that lead to the phenotypic characteristics are unclear. To unravel the molecular mechanisms, we have used a mouse model of gestational ethanol exposure, which is based on maternal ad libitum ingestion of 10% (v/v) ethanol for the first 8 days of gestation (GD 0.5-8.5). Early neurulation takes place by the end of this period, which is equivalent to the developmental stage early in the fourth week post-fertilization in human.
PLoS One - Placental fatty acid ethyl esters are elevated with maternal alcohol use in pregnancies complicated by prematurity
The accumulation of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) in meconium of term newborns has been described as one potential biomarker of maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. FAEEs accumulate in multiple alcohol-exposed fetal tissues and in the placenta.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology - Predictors of maternal drinking trajectories before and after pregnancy: evidence from a longitudinal study
Little is known about patterns of change in alcohol consumption and predictors of these patterns over the prenatal to postnatal period.
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research - Computer-delivered screening and brief intervention for alcohol use in pregnancy: a pilot randomized trial
Although screening and brief intervention (SBI) for unhealthy alcohol use has demonstrated efficacy in some trials, its implementation has been limited.

IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Süddeutsche.de (Germany) - Fast jede fünfte Schwangere trinkt Alkohol
Schon kleine Mengen Alkohol während der Schwangerschaft können dem Ungeborenen schaden. Dennoch trinken nach Daten des Robert-Koch-Instituts zufolge fast 20 Prozent der schwangeren Frauen Alkohol.
Side2 (Norway) - Fredriks (16) mor drakk alkohol mens hun var gravid. Det fikk han betale for
Fredrik Langbakk (16) svarer spørsmålet «Hvordan føles det å måtte betale for feilene din mor begikk allerede før du ble født?».
Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany) - Darum ist die Alkoholsucht so gefährlich
Keine Frage, gegen ein schnelles Feierabendbier mit Freunden ist nichts einzuwenden. Doch regelmäßiger Alkoholkonsum sollte auf keinen Fall unterschätzt werden. Aus dem aktuellen Drogen- und Suchtbericht 2015 geht hervor, dass in Deutschland jährlich rund 74.000 Menschen an den Folgen von Alkohol-Missbrauch sterben.
Savon Sanomat (Finland) - Turvallista rajaa ei taida olla
Yksi syntyy riemuun ja toinen murheeseen. Eino Leinon yli satavuotiaan runon sanat ovat ajankohtaiset ja totta synnytyssaleissa kaikkialla nykyajan Suomessa. Syyllinen on alkoholi.

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