NZ Herald (New
Zealand) - Damning report says governments have breached rights of people
with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
A damning new report from the Human Rights Commission warns thousands of
people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder have been denied support and had
their human rights breached because they don't fit an "arbitrary"
measure of disability.
Read more
Global News
(Canada) - Experts fear pandemic drinking habits could lead to a rise in
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased alcohol use, skyrocketing stress
levels and limited mental health and addiction services. Experts suspect that
combination could lead to more cases of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
Read more
CHEK News
(Canada) - ‘Like living in a tornado’: Island woman living with FASD opens
up about the condition
Lauren Richardson said she has felt like an outsider most of her life as
the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder she was born with makes it hard to cope.
Read more
Government of
Northwest Territories (Canada) - Videos Launched to support FASD Awareness
Month
The Department of Health and Social Services has developed two public
awareness videos on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) to bring attention
to the importance of diagnosis, and how the public can help support individuals
living with FASD.
Read more
Sarasota Herald
Tribune (USA) - Kathryn Shea FASD Clinic named in honor of longtime Sarasota
advocate
The Florida Center for Early Childhood held a dedication and ribbon cutting
ceremony on Thursday honoring its former CEO, Kathryn Shea.
Read more
Senator Susan
Collins (USA) - Senator Collins Co-Sponsors Bill to Prevent Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorders Among Women and Children
U.S. Senator Susan Collins co-sponsored the Advancing FASD Research,
Services, and Prevention Act of 2021 (FASD Respect Act). The legislation
addresses prenatal substance exposure through early intervention—by providing
support through programs and funding for prevention efforts and for individuals
and families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
Read more
CTV Saskatoon
(Canada) - Sask. man advocates for those living with FASD
What began as a journey of healing for Niall Schofield has turned into an
advocacy mission to help people understand living with fetal alcohol spectrum
disorder.
Read more
IOL (South Africa)
- Ignorance is the main contributing factor to high FASD prevalence in South
Africa
South Africa is notorious for having the highest prevalence rate of Foetal
alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in the world, with rates ranging from 29 to
290 per 1 000 live births.
Read more
Daily Echo (UK) -
How drinking alcohol in pregnancy could harm your baby
IT'S an uncomfortable truth, but we are rapidly coming to the conclusion
that no level of alcohol can be deemed entirely safe, despite the UK
government’s advice of 14 or fewer units per week, spread out, with several
alcohol-free days.
Read more
Maine Public
(USA) - Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: How FASDs Occur, Why They Go
Undiagnosed, What Can Be Done to Help Children With These Conditions
September is International FASD Awareness Month. Most children with Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are never diagnosed or are misdiagnosed.
Read more
Planet Radio (UK)
- Over 1,000 GM children per year affected by drinking during pregnancy
Over 1,000 children are being born every year in Greater Manchester who
could be at risk of lifelong conditions caused by drinking during pregnancy.
Read more
Waatea News
(Australia) - Data gap hinders fetal alcohol response
The Associate Commissioner for Children is backing a call from Māori public
health advocates Hāpai Te Hauora for immediate action from the government on
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
Read more
Hawaii Public Radio
(USA) - Understanding the Lasting Effects of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorders
September is National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Month. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says six to nine out of every 1,000
school-aged children in the U.S. suffer from the effects of alcohol consumed
during a mother’s pregnancy.
Read more
HeraldNet (USA) -
Bothell clinic helps kids exposed to drugs and alcohol
As soon as Luke could crawl up a couch, he was trying to jump off it. His
adoptive parents had to lock up everything in their house. Otherwise, he’d get
in and wreak havoc. A few weeks ago, the 6-year-old accidentally put water in
their car’s gas tank. His mother Joanne calls him a “sensory seeker.”
Read more
VIDEOS and
MATERIALS
The Scottish Parliament - Members' Business — S6M-01089 Siobhian Brown: FASD
Awareness Day (9 September)
That the Parliament recognises International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorders (FASD) Awareness Day on 9 September, which was first recognised in
1999; notes that the day helps to raise awareness about the range of conditions
that can result from alcohol consumption during pregnancy;
Read more
FASD Hub
Australia - What I want the world to know about FASD
We asked a group of adults, young people and caregivers with lived
experience to share what they wish people knew about FASD.
Read more
WION - South
Africa reports highest number of FASD cases
September is the international FASD awareness month. South Africa has
highest number of FASD.
Read more
HSSCommunications
- The Importance of a Diagnosis in Individuals with F.A.S.D.
Read more
AlcoholFreePregnancy
- We Are FASD United
Read more
Adopt4LifeON - Snack
and Chat - FASD Changemakers
Join the discussion with CJ Lutke and Myles Himmelreich of FASD
Changemakers - where they share their insights and knowledge and offer advice
to parents and caregivers raising children with FASD.
Read more
AlcoholFreePregnancy
- "The Drum Is Medicine" - Healthy Native Nation
In observance of September 9th (9/9) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Awareness Day we would like to premier NOFAS/Healthy Native Nation FASD
awareness videos. Thank you to all who took part in creating these for all to
enjoy.
Read more
Manitoba FASD
Coalition - Visions and Voices presents: Conversations on FASD with Jessica
Siddle
For the 2021 #FASDmonth celebrations Visions and Voices developed and are
proud to present Conversations on FASD. Please take a few moments to enjoy
Jessica Siddle's message and conversation around FASD!
Read more
POPFASD - Get
Ready, Do, Done
Executive Function is a set of mental skills and it includes the ability to
plan and organize materials and complete tasks. Kristen Jacobsen (M.S.,
CCC/SLP) and Sarah Ward (M.S., CCC/SLP) from Cognitive Connections
https://www.efpractice.com/ have developed the "Get Ready, Do, Done"
approach to helping students plan and carry out activities in a timely fashion.
Read more
FASD Awareness
#BeAware - Why we need to think differently about FASD
Here is a short video for FASD Awareness Month 2021. With an introduction
by celebrity gardener Mark Lane.
Read more
Amanda Coates - FASD
Network
Read more
Able2 - Rein
FASD Awareness Walk Fall 2021
Read more
RESEARCH
Nutrients - Alcohol’s Impact on the Fetus
The impact of alcohol on fetal health and social outcomes later in life is
enormous, placing a huge economic burden on countries. Prevention of prenatal
alcohol exposure and early identification of affected individuals should be a
global public health priority.
Read more
Health - ‘Think
before you drink’: Challenging narratives on foetal alcohol spectrum disorder
and indigeneity in Canada
Health experts increasingly acknowledge that the disproportionate impact of
FASD on indigenous people is driven by social and historical contexts,
especially in settler colonial states like Canada.
Read more
International
Journal of Mental Health and Addiction - Screening for Alcohol Use in
Pregnancy: a Review of Current Practices and Perspectives
By implementing consistent alcohol use screening, prenatal care providers
have the opportunity to facilitate access to counseling and brief interventions
and thus, to prevent new cases of FASD and improve maternal and child health.
Read more
University of
Calgary - Memory Profiles of Children and Youth with Prenatal Alcohol
Exposure: The Potential Role of Postnatal Risks
Findings from the current study are consistent with the literature that
documents verbal memory deficits within PAE populations; however, additional
research on the potential associations between postnatal exposures and
developmental outcomes within this population is needed. Areas for future
research directions are discussed as well as study clinical implications and
limitations.
Read more
Alcoholism:
Clinical and Experimental Research - Prenatal alcohol and cannabis exposure
can have opposing and region-specific effects on parvalbumin interneuron
numbers in the hippocampus
Prenatal exposure to alcohol and THC differentially affects
parvalbumin-positive interneuron numbers in the hippocampus, indicating that
both individual and combined exposure can impact the balance of excitation and
inhibition in a structure critically involved in learning and memory processes.
Read more
Alcoholism:
Clinical and Experimental Research - Sex-specific effect of prenatal alcohol
exposure on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor function in orbitofrontal cortex
pyramidal neurons of mice
These findings suggest that low-to-moderate PAE modulates NMDAR function in
pyramidal neurons in a sex-specific manner, although we did not find evidence
that the effect is mediated by dysfunction of synaptic GluN2B
subunit-containing NMDARs.
Read more
UC San Diego - Sleep
and Neurobehavioral Outcomes in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Interventions targeting variability in sleep, particularly sleep duration
variability, may improve sleep quality and some aspects of cognition and
behavior in children with FASD.
Read more
SIGMA Repository
- NPWH position statement: Prevention of alcohol exposed pregnancies [April
2021 Update]
The National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH)
advocates for the use of evidence-based strategies by women’s health nurse
practitioners (WHNPs) and other advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who
provide healthcare for reproductive-age women to prevent alcohol-exposed
pregnancies (AEPs).
Read more
University of the
Western Cape - A scoping review of the determinants of foetal alcohol
spectrum disorder in South Africa: an intersectional perspective
A critical stance towards the victim/active agent dichotomy that often
frames women who drink during pregnancy opens up space to understand the
nuances needed to support the women involved while also illustrating the
contextual barriers to drinking cessation that need to be addressed through
holistic approaches.
Read more
Research Square -
Alcohol Consumption by Women in the Previous Year Who Were Unaware They Were
Pregnant
Pregnant women and women of reproductive age, who are in risk groups and
have a high vulnerability, should take priority for interventions related to
substance use, especially alcohol.
Read more
University of
Lethbridge - Consequences of maternal preconception nicotine and alcohol: a
rodent model of the long-term effects on offspring brain and behavior
The overall goal of this thesis is to highlight how maternal experiences
prior to conception can have just as significant an impact on offspring
development as much more thoroughly studied prenatal experiences.
Read more
Government of
Canada - At-a-glance - Prevalence of alcohol use among women of reproductive
age in Canada
This information can guide health care providers in assessing alcohol
consumption and in promoting low-risk alcohol drinking to prevent alcohol
exposure during pregnancy.
Read more
Neonatology - Ignored
Papers, Invented Quotations: A History of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Given the high rate of alcoholism throughout history, its effects on the
fetus may have existed for millennia. But, the claim that Greeks and Romans were
aware of fetal alcohol syndrome rests on incorrect citations.
Read more
Journal of
Neurophysiology - Effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on choline-induced
long-term depression in the hippocampus
This study provides a novel insight into how choline can modulate
hippocampal transmission at the level of the synapse and that it can have
unique effects following PNEE.
Read more
Alcohol - Growth
and Behavioral Differences in a C56BL/6J Mouse Model of Prenatal Alcohol
Exposure
This mouse model of PAE, using a repeated intermediate exposure, produces
modest behavioral impairments that are consistent along the continuum of PAE
models, including deficits in associative memory and hyper-responsivity.
Read more
The Cardinal Edge
- The Effects of Alcohol on the Developing Drosophila Nervous System
Ethanol is the most common human teratogen, contributing to fetal alcohol
syndrome (FAS) when effects are the most severe. Key effects of fetal alcohol
syndrome are observed in the nervous system.
read more
Advances in
Neurodevelopmental Disorders - The Association Between Executive
Functioning, Attention, and Adaptive Functioning Among Children and Adolescents
with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
Although none of the correlations were indicative of convergent validity,
our results suggest a lack of discriminant validity across the measures. The
findings suggest that our assessment tools were measuring distinct but
overlapping constructs, and this overlap should be considered in future
research on clinical decision-making regarding diagnosis and interventions that
target these areas of functioning.
Read more
Curtin University
- Oral and written communication skills of adolescents in youth justice with
and without prenatal alcohol exposure
This research investigated the communication skills of adolescents in youth
detention in Western Australia (WA), a context in which fetal alcohol spectrum
disorder (FASD) is highly prevalent and Aboriginal young peoples are
over-represented.
Read more
Alcoholism,
clinical and experimental research - Where there's a will, there's a way?
Strategies to reduce or abstain from alcohol use developed by Northern Plains
American Indian women participating in a brief alcohol-exposed pregnancy
preconceptual intervention
Programs may need to provide participants more support to develop strong
strategies to reduce alcohol use when implemented within areas with increased
trauma and contextual barriers that can impact strategy selection, which may
include ways to improve health on interpersonal and community levels.
Read more
Contemporary
OB/GYN - Breastfeeding and alcohol: Do they mix?
An editorial is presented in which the author discusses the risks of
drinking alcohol while breastfeeding. The author reports the increased
frequency of alcohol consumption in women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more
IN OTHER
LANGUAGES
Stuttgarter Nachrichten (Germany) - Jährlich mehr als tausend Säuglinge
alkoholgeschädigt
Die Landesstelle für Suchtfragen hat Zahlen zur alkoholbedingten Schädigung
von Säuglingen veröffentlicht. Die Dunkelziffer soll die offizielle Zahl sogar
noch übersteigen.
Read more
Rynek Zdrowia
(Poland) - FAS. We Wrocławiu rusza centrum pomocy dzieciom ze Spektrum Płodowych
Zburzeń Alkoholowych
Na Dolnym Śląsku ruszyło pierwsze w tym regionie Centrum Diagnostyki i
Terapii FAS. Dzieci i młodzież obciążone Spektrum Płodowych Zaburzeń
Alkoholowych otrzymają tu bezpłatną opiekę medyczną.
Przy „marszałkowskiej” jednostce - Dziennym Ośrodku Psychiatrii i Zaburzeń Mowy
dla Dzieci i Młodzieży we Wrocławiu - rozpoczyna działalność Centrum
Diagnostyki i Terapii FAS, w którym dzieci i młodzież obciążone Spektrum
Płodowych Zaburzeń Alkoholowych otrzymają bezpłatną opiekę medyczną.
Read more
PebMed (Brazil) -
Dia Mundial da Prevenção à Síndrome Alcoólica Fetal: o que a exposição ao
álcool na gravidez gera?
A síndrome alcoólica fetal (SAF) é atribuída à ingestão de álcool na
gestação. Infelizmente, essa síndrome é a maior causadora de retardo mental
prevenível.
Read more
Prawo.pl (Poland)
- We Wrocławiu otwarto Centrum Diagnostyki i Terapii FAS
We Wrocławiu rozpoczęło swoją działalność, pierwsze w tym regionie centrum
dla dzieci i młodzieży dotkniętych alkoholowym zespołem płodowym (FAS).
Read more
