FASD News - 23/2020

Daily Mail (UK) - Over a quarter of 18 to 25-year-olds are unaware that women should avoid alcohol in pregnancy, study shows
A quarter of adults aged between 18 and 25 are unaware that women should not drink alcohol during pregnancy, according to a survey of 2,000 Britons.
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University of Rochester - Expert team creates training manual to help providers recognize fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
The handbook Assessment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders features sections on prenatal exposure, dysmorphology, neuropsychology, the diagnostic process, and case-based learning modules.
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CBC.ca (Canada) - My Teen Has Special Needs And Ontario Cancelling Overnight Camp Is Hitting Us Hard
Two years ago, I was picking up my youngest daughter from her two weeks at an overnight girl’s activity camp in Muskoka, when a counsellor approached me and said: "She is a leader. We want her to return as a leader in training when she’s old enough."
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The Standard (Kenya) - Alcohol ‘drinking’ babies on the rise
As women close the drinking gap between them and men, more unborn children are being exposed to alcohol.
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Scottish Daily Record (Scotland) - Health board encouraging residents to practice safer sex during Covid-19 pandemic
NHS Lanarkshire say that around half of pregnancies aren’t planned, and that drinking alcohol while pregnant can result in babies being born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
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Metro (UK) - Adopted toddler born brain-damaged because of mom’s drinking visits her in rehab
A two-year-old boy born with brain damage because of his mother’s drinking has met her for the first time at the rehab center where she is receiving treatment. Henry Norman was taken by his adoptive mother Tamra Norman, to meet the woman in the hope that he’d help inspire her to turn over a new leaf.
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HuffPost UK (UK) - We Adopted So-Called 'Hard To Place' Children. They're Not Hard To Love
“All of the children I adopted have been between newborn age and two years. Their needs range from cerebral palsy, autism, physical disability and abnormalities, foetal alcohol syndrome, deafness, and Down’s syndrome.
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Think Inclusive - HOW DO YOU SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH DIFFICULT OR CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR?
Supporting a person with challenging behavior begins when we commit to knowing the person. Sadly, it is often the case that the people who develop an intervention to stop someone from engaging in challenging behavior do not know the individual in any meaningful sense. Instead, they see the person as a someone (or something) that needs to be fixed or modified.
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Daily Hampshire Gazette - ‘I wish I could help you’
Leslie Leff, a clinical social worker with the Cutchins Programs for Families and Children in Northampton, has become tired of telling parents “I wish I could help you.”
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VIDEOS and MATERIALS
Surrey Place - Introduction to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Part 2 of 3
This video series provides participants with an introduction to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and how FASD impacts functioning and learning. We will help to identify the strengths and needs in children and youth with FASD, introduce supportive strategies, and facilitate resource-sharing.
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CanFASD - Towards healthy outcomes for individuals with FASD: Advancing a common intervention framework
In this presentation Dr. Jacqueline Pei discusses an evidence informed model of intervention for individuals with FASD: Towards Healthy Outcomes. Achieving healthy outcomes for individuals with FASD requires working together towards meaningful goals for each individual.
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Marulu Strategy - FASD Information Video
This video was created by Goolarri Media Enterprises.
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Manitoba FASD Coalition - Importance of the Manitoba FASD Coalition to the Provincial FASD Strategy
This video explores the history of FASD services within Manitoba and the interconnections between the Manitoba FASD Coalition, multiple Manitoba Government departments,  FASD communities and organizations, and CanFASD.
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visiblehealthwarning.org - Open Letter: It’s time for a clear, visible health warning label
Australian and New Zealand Food Forum Ministers will soon meet to decide whether to support a health warning label on alcohol products. Add your name to the growing list of people calling for a clear, visible health warning label by endorsing the letter below.
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PreventFASD.info - Get Creative! You will change lives
We are looking for creative ideas to prevent tens of thousands being born each year in the UK with lifelong damage to their brains and bodies from alcohol exposure in pregnancy. Get creative! Send us a video, a poster, a song, a poem, an idea for a campaign. It’s time to make some noise!
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RESEARCH
Child Neuropsychology - Cognitive and social/emotional influences on adaptive functioning in children with FASD: Clinical and cultural considerations
In a study of 39 children with FASD and 29 comparison children, we found that social cognition (specifically recognizing emotions) was the only significant independent predictor of teacher-rated adaptive functioning even after including IQ, executive functioning, and adverse childhood experiences into the model. In this current study, Māori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) were overrepresented; therefore, the research was supported by a strong partnership with Te Wāhanga Hauora Māori (Māori Health Service).
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ecoevorxiv.org - Phylogeny can Inform Animal Model Development for Both Inherited and Induced Conditions: Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
The use of animal models in research on human and veterinary diseases and disorders is retracting, though it is likely to remain critical for decades. In light of increasing regulation and expectations of judicious use of animal subjects, we examine the idea that the use of animal models can be guided by phylogenetic relationships and modern evolutionary and cladistic analyses.
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Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease - Caregiver-reported physical health status of children and young people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
While fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) has primarily been thought of as a neurodevelopmental condition, research is beginning to highlight its ‘whole-body’ implications. Accordingly, the current study sought to provide a snapshot of potential health issues.
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Research in Developmental Disabilities - A qualitative examination of the cognitive and behavioural challenges experienced by children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Despite the lack of a consistent behavioural phenotype for FASD, the findings suggest consistency between caregivers in their reports of the difficulties experienced by children with FASD.
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red.library.usd.edu - Consequences of In Utero Exposure to Alcohol with a Focus on Behavioral Outcomes
In utero exposure to alcohol can result in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which encompasses a range of developmental disorders.
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BMC Pediatrics - Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder among pre-adopted and foster children
In a population of high-risk children seen in an adoption clinic, many had manifestations associated with FASD especially where prenatal alcohol exposure was established. The reported prevalence in this study is higher than that reported in our previous study of younger children.
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Bone - Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy associates with bone fractures in early childhood. A birth-cohort study of 6718 participants
Bone fractures are an important cause of morbidity in childhood. Their prevention should start from the prenatal period by protecting the fetus from the alcohol exposure.
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Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research - Difficulties in daily living experienced by adolescents, transition‐aged youth, and adults with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Adolescents, transition‐aged youth, and adults with FASD experienced a range of substantial and complex difficulties at the time of their diagnostic assessment, signaling a high level of service needs.
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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - Teacher‑Reported Prevalence of FASD in Kindergarten in Canada: Association with Child Development and Problems at Home
Overall children with FASD had higher mean scores on the developmental domains compared to children with NDDs. Results of the current study can inform strategies and policies for early identifcation and intervention.
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ScholarWorks Open Access Repository - Early Interventions for Youth Affected by Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: A Review of Current Literature
The purpose of this research is to examine the early interventions of youth affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. This literature review will look to gain an understanding on the present research of early interventions for youth who are affected by prenatal exposure as well as identify the gaps in research that still needs to be conducted.
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Canadian Journal of Nursing Research - Midwives Uniquely Suited to Deliver Woman-Centered Care and Decrease Stigma for Women With Substance Use Disorders
Midwives are being called to serve a growing population of vulnerable women, those with substance use disorders (SUDs). Increasing numbers of women across the lifespan are being diagnosed with SUDs.
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Cytokine - Gene expression profiling reveals a lingering effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on inflammatory-related genes during adolescence and adulthood
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (PAE) exerts devastating effects on the Central Nervous System (CNS), which vary as a function of both ethanol load and gestational age of exposure.
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BORA UiB - Child development in rural Burkina Faso. Association between maternal alcohol consumption, stunting, schooling, and neuropsychological outcomes
The general aim of this thesis was to evaluate the association of maternal alcohol consumption, stunting (low height-for-age) and schooling on neuropsychological outcomes among children in rural Burkina Faso based on data from the Burkina Faso’s site of the PROMISE Saving Brain’s study.
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Reproductive Toxicology - Prenatal Ethanol Exposure Increases Susceptibility to Depression- and Anxiety-like Behavior in Adult Female Offspring and its Underlying Mechanism
Our study investigated changes of depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in adult offspring caused by prenatal ethanol exposure (PEE) and explored the potential mechanism.
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Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences - Prenatal alcohol and tobacco use among pregnant women in Enugu Nigeria: a cross-sectional study
A larger and more in-depth study is required to confirm and elucidate the high prevalence of prenatal drinking observed in this town to guide appropriate remedial public heath intervention, if confirmed.
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Clinical Ethics - Validation of simple dichotomous self-report on prenatal alcohol and other drug use in women attending midwife obstetric units in the Cape Metropole, South Africa
Dichotomous verbal screening was considered valid after comparison with the ASSIST; however, combined use with urine screenings can be recommended especially for identifying illicit substance use in order to accurately detect alcohol and other drug use in pregnancy, so that women can be identified and referred for appropriate interventions where needed.
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Current Developments in Nutrition - The Clinical Iron Supplement Fer-In-Sol Improves Fetal Iron Status and Brain Weight in Rats Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol
These data show that maternal iron supplementation improves select fetal outcomes in PAE, including brain weight and blood values, and suggests that this may be a clinically feasible approach to improve prenatal iron status and fetal outcomes in PAE pregnancies.
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Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease - Caregiver-reported physical health status of children and young people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
While fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) has primarily been thought of as a neurodevelopmental condition, research is beginning to highlight its ‘whole-body’ implications.
Read more