Pages

Sunday, August 18, 2024

FASD News / 33/2024

BBC - Foetal alcohol syndrome: Why fathers need to watch what they drink too
A father's alcohol consumption has long been overshadowed by the focus on what a mother drinks. But that could be about to change following new research.
Read more

The Conversation (New Zealand) - Heavy drinking in NZ is dropping – but not fast enough to stop the brutal legacy of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Rates of heavy drinking in Aotearoa New Zealand are starting to decline, matching trends seen in Europe. This may reflect greater awareness of the harm caused by alcohol, as well as financial pressures and the reduced affordability of alcohol products.
Read more

The Mandarin (Australia) - Prevention or patch-up? Individual responsibility for FASD doesn’t make sense
There is a curious statement on page 105 of the current Australian Dietary Guidelines published by the National Health and Medical Research Council: Foetal alcohol syndrome is also still present in some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Read more

NITV (Australia) - Kit the Koala: the mob-made animation destigmatising and embracing neurodivergence
The project, a two-part animated series developed by Hewlett and the Strong Mothers group at Carbal Aboriginal Medical Service in Toowoomba, follows the adventures of Kit the Koala, who lives with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
Read more

The Sarnia Observer (Canada) - Sarnia committee raising awareness of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Too few Canadians know the impact fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can have, says Sarnia’s Katie Paquette.
Read more

Irish Examiner (Ireland) - Support services suspended in Clare for families of people with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Among the indicators of FASD are ADHD, low body weight, poor co-ordination, poor memory, attention difficulties, difficulties in school, and learning disabilities.
Read more

CBC (Canada) - New CK treatment centre should lower wait times for kids with autism, FASD, province says
Kids who need access to services for autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and physiotherapy should have shorter wait times in the future now that the province has broken ground on a larger building for them.
Read more

AIHW (Australia) - Australia's mothers and babies
The consumption of alcohol is widespread within Australia and entwined with many social and cultural activities. Alcohol consumption in pregnancy can lead to poorer perinatal outcomes including low birthweight, being small for gestational age, pre-term birth and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) (NHMRC 2020).
Read more

 

VIDEOS and MATERIALS
THE EMPOWERED FILMMAKER - What's it like to have FASD? - Dakota Omoth
A short film by Dakota Omoth that sheds light into their lived experience with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). This film was made as a part of the Empowered Filmmaker in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
Read more

FASDSUCCESS - Top 10 Tips Parents Want Educators to Know about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome(FASD)
The top 10 things educators need to know about FASD are from the caregivers who live it daily. We’ll cover everything from how to adapt teaching methods to meet the unique needs of these students to the importance of positive reinforcement and extra supervision during school transitions.
Read more

FASD United (formerly NOFAS) - Glimpses of FASD - Meet MJ
FASD United is excited to launch “Glimpses of FASD,” an exciting new short video initiative featuring individuals living with FASD sharing their own stories in their own words. The videos are a great way for people to learn more about FASDs and what it’s like to live with them in just a few minutes.
Read more

Patricia Kasper, Your FASD Coach - Finding Identity: Adoption and FASD
In this episode of "Living with FASD," host Patti Kasper is joined by Dr. Susan Rich and Dr. Jack Rocco for an insightful discussion on the intersections of adoption, trauma, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
Read more

Patricia Kasper, Your FASD Coach - From Rupture to Repair: Healing FASD Family Dynamics with Antonia LIndsey
In this episode of Living with FASD, host Patti Kasper welcomes back Antonia Lindsay, a renowned therapist and art therapist, for an in-depth discussion on navigating life with FASD. They delve into the complexities of maintaining relationships within families affected by neurodiversity, focusing on the themes of rupture, repair, and regroup.
Read more

FASD Embraced - Experts Define Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
Conservative estimates are that 1 in 20 children have an FASD. That makes this condition more prevalent than Autism Spectrum Disorder, yet few are familiar with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. The world needs to know.
Read more

The Battles We Pick - Fetal alcohol spectrum advocate Sandra Ionno Butcher on bringing diverse stakeholders together fo...
Sandra Ionno Butcher has been chief executive of the National Organisation for FASD for six and a half years—and active in efforts on behalf of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder for nearly a decade—after spending the bulk of her career advocating for nuclear disarmament.
Read more

 

RESEARCH
Disability and Health Journal - Fetal alcohol syndrome and population level health care usage in British Columbia, Canada
These findings indicate that youth with FAS require urgent attention for each of the medically-related variables included in this study. The need for attention to their health care needs may increase as these youth transition from pediatric to adult health care services.
Read more

Drug and Alcohol Review - Identifying and responding to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in child and family health: Lessons from an exploratory mixed methods study
Health workers in this study requested high-quality training and the development of FASD practice guidelines to improve role clarity and clinical impact when working with FASD populations.
Read more

Gene - Genetic admixture predictors of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in a South African population
Our findings indicate that the SACC population may be a valuable asset to identify novel disease-associated genetic loci for FASD and other diseases.
Read more

bioRxiv - Ethanol exposure model in zebrafish causes phenotypic, behavioral and gene expression changes that mimic Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in human birth cohorts
We conclude that the zebrafish model effectively mimics several FASD phenotypes observed in humans, confirming gene expression changes we have previously documented in a human observational study and providing a valuable platform for exploring the underlying mechanisms of alcohol-induced embryonic alterations and for developing diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for early intervention.
Read more

Children - First Description of a Large Clinical Series of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Children and Adolescents in Reunion Island, France
Children with FASDs combine significant vulnerabilities, associating exposure to alcohol during the preconception and/or the prenatal period, prematurity, complex familial and sociocultural living conditions, and a genetic anomaly in almost a quarter of cases.
Read more

OSF - FASD: Where we have come from, trends, and future directions
People with FASD have many strengths, which are often overlooked in research. They have been described as skilled musicians, artists and sportspeople with wide vocabularies who are resilient, compassionate, hardworking, and kind. Increasing attention is being paid to FASD but this is not enough.
Read more

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy - Knowledge of Occupational Therapists in Child Development Units: Implications for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Treatment
This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of Occupational Therapists (OTs) in child development units about dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the characteristics of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Read more

bioRxiv - Deliberative Behaviors and Prefrontal-Hippocampal Coupling are Disrupted in a Rat Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Together, these findings indicate that third trimester AE disrupts mPFC-HPC oscillatory interactions and choice behaviors.
Read more

BMJ Journals - Initial health assessments of children looked after: health needs snapshot with emphasis on risk of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders
The survey provided a valuable snapshot of the local CLA population which will support the commissioning of services. It highlighted the need for ongoing data capture of health issues. A particular spotlight was thrown on the lack of easily available information on PAE and a consistent diagnostic and management pathway for FASD.
Read more

Adler University - The Prevalence and Association of Biopsychosocial Factors With Maternal Alcohol Use During Pregnancy in Canada: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis
Research on FASD prevalence varies widely between countries, highlighting the need for country-specific data to inform effective alcohol legislation. In Canada, prevalence estimates are outdated, necessitating an update.
Read more

Children - A Population-Based Study on Women Who Used Alcohol during Pregnancy and Their Neonates in Ontario, Canada
It is crucial to routinely screen childbearing-age and pregnant women for alcohol and other substance use as well as mental health problems in order to prevent adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Read more

Substance Use & Addiction Journal - Cross-Site Evaluation of Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Implementation Programs in Healthcare Systems Serving Individuals of Reproductive Age
Maximizing the use of technology, employing flexibility in program delivery, and institutionalizing processes and protocols improved workflow, efficiency, and program reach.
Read more

Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience - Prenatal Tobacco and Alcohol Exposure, White Matter Microstructure, and Early Language Skills in Toddlers from a South African Birth Cohort
Tobacco and alcohol are the two most common substances used during pregnancy, and both can disrupt neurodevelopment, resulting in cognitive and behavioural deficits including language difficulties. Previous studies show that children with prenatal substance exposure exhibit microstructural alterations in major white matter pathways, though few studies have investigated the impact of prenatal substance exposure on white matter microstructure and language skills during the toddler years.
Read more

Alcohol - The Effects of Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Performance in Hippocampal-Sensitive Spatial Memory and Anxiety Tasks by Adult Male and Female Rat Offspring
The results suggest that moderate prenatal alcohol exposure does not have a considerable effect on retention of spatial information, but produces a general reduction in anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus-maze.
Read more

Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience - Deep Learning for Detecting Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in Pediatric Brain MRI: A Transfer Learning Approach with Explainability Insights
Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) refers to the exposure of the developing fetus due to alcohol consumption during pregnancy and can have life-long consequences for learning, behavior, and health.
Read more

Drug and Alcohol Review - Screening and early intervention for substance use during pregnancy: A retrospective case note review of antenatal care records
Despite longstanding recommendations, screening and intervention practices for substance use appear inconsistent. With the recent emergence of vaping, no evidence of updated approaches to identifying e-cigarette consumption in pregnant women was found.
Read more

OSF - Contextualized Effects of Maternal Cannabis During Pregnancy on Childhood Alcohol Sipping in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Project
PCE effects on adolescent alcohol sipping are indirect and are confounded with maternal behaviors before and during pregnancy.
Read more

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs - The relationship between alcohol availability and drink-driving policies and admissions to substance use disorder treatment during pregnancy
Restrictions on grocery store spirits sales and BAC laws were associated with lower and higher alcohol treatment admission rates among pregnant people, respectively, suggesting general population alcohol policies are relevant for pregnant people’s treatment utilization.
Read more

Substance Use & Addiction Journal - Identifying Patients at Risk for Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies: The Importance of Addressing Multiple Risk Factors
There is a need for system modifications to assess multiple behaviors simultaneously and alert providers when a combination of behaviors increases a specific health risk, such as an AEP.
Read more

Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research - The international prevalence of prenatal alcohol use obtained via meconium biomarkers: A systematic literature review
This review assesses both the international prevalence of PAU obtained using meconium biomarkers in general maternity populations and, when feasible, the level of agreement between meconium biomarkers and self-reported PAU.
Read more

Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research - Trends in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder research: A bibliometric review of original articles published between 2000 and 2023
FASD remains considerably under-researched. While there has been an increase in the number of original FASD research articles published annually over time, this is much lower than expected compared to publication trends for other neurodevelopmental conditions, and the wider scientific literature.
Read more

Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research - Assessing and supporting children and young people with probable or diagnosed fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: The experience of clinicians working within child and adolescent mental health services
This model provides new insights into the barriers and facilitators CAMHS clinicians experience when assessing and supporting CYP with probable or diagnosed FASD, highlighting key clinical implications.
Read more

No comments: