Association of Moderate Alcohol Use and Binge Drinking During Pregnancy with Neonatal Health

Heavy drinking and smoking during pregnancy are known to have a negative impact on the unborn child. However, the impact of low-to-moderate alcohol consumption and binge drinking has been debated recently. 

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of moderate prenatal drinking and binge drinking with birthweight, being small for gestational age (SGA) at birth, preterm birth, and neonatal asphyxia.

Moderate alcohol drinking, binge drinking, and several possible confounders were assessed in 1,258 pregnant women; information on neonatal health was obtained at birth.

Results indicate that 30.8% of the women drank at low levels (<2 glasses/wk), 7.9% drank moderately (2 to 4 glasses/wk), and 0.9% showed higher levels of drinking (≥5 glasses/wk); 4.7% reported binge drinking (defined as ≥3 glasses/occasion). 6.4% of the children were SGA (<10th percentile of birthweight adjusted for gestational age), 4.6% were preterm (<37th week of gestation), and 13.0% showed asphyxia (arterial cord pH <7.10 and/or arterial cord lactate >6.35 mmol and/or Apgar score <7 at 5 minutes). 

When controlling for maternal age, citizenship, occupational status, parity, smoking, use of prescription/over-the-counter drugs, illicit drug use, and child gender moderate drinking was related to lower birthweight (p < 0.01), and moderate drinking and binge drinking were associated with neonatal asphyxia at trend level (p = 0.06 and p = 0.09). 

Moderate drinking and binge drinking were not related to length of gestation.

In contrast to recent reviews in the field, our results assume that moderate drinking and binge drinking are risk factors for neonatal health.



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Request Reprint E-Mail:
ymeyer@hecvsante.ch

Suicide in Ireland: The Influence of Alcohol and Unemployment

We model the behaviour of the Irish suicide rate over the period 1968-2009 using the unemployment rate and the level of alcohol consumption as the principal explanatory variables.

We model the behaviour of the Irish suicide rate over the period 1968-2009 using the unemployment rate and the level of alcohol consumption as the principal explanatory variables.


We find that alcohol consumption is a significant influence on the suicide rate among younger males. Its influence on the female suicide rate is not well-established, although there is some evidence that it plays a role in the 15-24 age group. 

The unemployment rate is also a significant influence on the male suicide rate in the younger age groups but evidence of its influence on the female suicide rate is lacking. 

The behaviour of suicide rates among males aged 55 and over and females aged 25 and over is unaccounted for by our model. 

The findings suggest that higher
alcohol consumption played a significant role in the very rapid increase in suicide mortality among young Irish males between the late 1980s and the end of the century. In the early twenty first century a combination of falling alcohol consumption and low unemployment led to a marked
reduction in suicide rates. 

The recent rise in suicide rates may be attributed to the sharp rise in
unemployment, especially among males, but it has been moderated by the continuing fall in alcohol consumption. 

Finally, we discuss some policy implications of our findings.


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Clinical and pathological features of alcohol-related brain damage

One of the sequelae of chronic alcohol abuse is malnutrition. Importantly, a deficiency in thiamine (vitamin B₁) can result in the acute, potentially reversible neurological disorder Wernicke encephalopathy (WE). 

When WE is recognized, thiamine treatment can elicit a rapid clinical recovery. If WE is left untreated, however, patients can develop Korsakoff syndrome (KS), a severe neurological disorder characterized by anterograde amnesia. 

Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) describes the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on human brain structure and function in the absence of more discrete and well-characterized neurological concomitants of alcoholism such as WE and KS. 

Through knowledge of both the well-described changes in brain structure and function that are evident in alcohol-related disorders such as WE and KS and the clinical outcomes associated with these changes, researchers have begun to gain a better understanding of ARBD. 

This Review examines ARBD from the perspective of WE and KS, exploring the clinical presentations, postmortem brain pathology, in vivo MRI findings and potential molecular mechanisms associated with these conditions. 

An awareness of the consequences of chronic alcohol consumption on human behavior and brain structure can enable clinicians to improve detection and treatment of ARBD.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:    clive.harper@sydney.edu.au 

Antioxidant Properties of Amaranthus hypochondriacus Seeds and their Effect on the Liver of Alcohol-Treated Rats

Amaranth constitutes a valuable pseudocereal, due to its nutritional quality and its nutraceutical properties, which contribute to improve human health. 

This work evaluated the effect of a diet based on Amaranthus hypochondriacus (Ah) seed on oxidative stress and antioxidant status in the liver of rats sub-chronically exposed to ethanol.

The seed extract was investigated for antioxidant capacity in vitro, showing an adequate content of total phenols and antioxidant activity elevated. 

For in vivo assays, four groups of six rats each were fed with an AIN-93 M diet for 28 days. In groups III and IV casein was replaced by Ah as the protein source; groups II and IV were received ethanol in the drinking water (20% v/v). 

When comparing groups IV and II, the following was observed: significant decrease in the activity of aspartate aminotransferase and content of malondialdehyde (p < 0.001) in serum; decrease of malondialdehyde and increase in the activity and gene expression of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase, also, decrease in the NADPH oxidase transcript levels (p < 0.05) in liver. 

Our data suggest that Ah is a good source of total phenols and exerts a protective effect in serum and in liver of rats intoxicated with ethanol.



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Request Reprint E-Mail:   nlesc@unsl.edu.ar

Senior industry figure proposes Government 'alcohol minister' to deliver cohesive alcohol policy

Mark Hunter, chief executive of Britain’s largest brewer Molson Corrs, has suggested an 'alcohol minister' should be considered to lead on a more cohesive alcohol strategy, including further action on price and taxation. Writing in the Morning Advertiser, Hunter criticised elements of current alcohol policy as dis-jointed, citing curbs on the promotion of lower strength products. Current advertising codes mean that brand owners cannot promote reduced strength drinks, which Hunter argues undermines policy to promote these through reduced taxation.  > > > >  Read More

Alcohol News - 19/2011

The City of Tampere (Finland) - Tampere campaigns against supplying alcohol to minors

The City of Tampere has launched a campaign to make an appeal to its inhabitants in order to end the supply of alcohol to minors. All retail shops in Tampere selling alcoholic beverages will feature posters, cards and shopping basket advertising on the topic.

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Irish Independent (Ireland) - Alcohol to blame for rise in liver problems

GROWING numbers of people are developing liver disease in their 20s and 30s because of heavy boozing, according to new research.

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Capital FM Kenya (Somalia) - Islamists ban tobacco, alcohol in Somalia district

Islamist rebels have banned the use of tobacco and cigarettes in a district outside the Somali capital, locals said Monday, in the first such move by the hardliners in the country.

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Mmegi Online (Kenya) - Alcohol consumption desecrates funerals

Once upon a time a funeral was a sacred event and was treated with utmost respect. However, these days, things have changed. Funerals are no longer as sombre as they used to be.

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Scotland Courier (Scotland) - SNP urged to seize new chance to introduce minimum alcohol pricing

A leading expert on alcohol abuse in Tayside has urged the new Scottish Government to introduce minimum pricing on drink just months after a previous attempt to do so was rejected.

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TVNZ (New Zealand) - Stressed Kiwis hit the bottle, takeaways

New Zealanders are under increasing stress, drinking more alcohol, eating takeaways, getting fat and don't have time to exercise, according to a new survey.

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Irish Times (Ireland) - Barmen 'untrained on alcohol danger'

THE TRIAL of two bar staff accused of the manslaughter of a British man in a Co Tipperary hotel has heard that both accused had no training on the potential dangers of fatal doses of alcohol and were told to meet the needs of hotel guests, including serving them drinks.

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ABC Online (Australia) - Group formed to tackle alchohol issues

A new coalition of more than 60 health and community organisations has formed to tackle alcohol-related problems in Western Australia.

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Star Global Tribune - Risk From Coronary Heart Disease Due To Alcohol Consumption Revealed

The analysis assesses the 12-month prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in individuals according to their category of alcohol use.

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The Republic (USA) - What's in your beer? Labels should tell you

The federal government and alcohol-industry lobbyists have been butting heads for more than a decade over what to include on beer, wine and hard-liquor labels. The latest proposal, which the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau laid out way back in 2007, is logical, fair and would be a boon to consumers.

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Medical News Today (Scotland) - Alcohol: One Day, 5,500 Patients, £28 Million, Scotland

According to a survey conducted by the BMA in Scotland, on one day in April, alcohol was a factor in more than 5,500 consultations in general practice. This equates to around 1.4 million consultations per year, costing the NHS in excess of £28 million [1] and accounts for six per cent of all GP consultations.

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Daily Mail (UK) - Healthier lifestyle ‘could save 20,000 from breast cancer’

Almost 20,000 breast cancer cases could be avoided every year in Britain if women drank less alcohol, improved their diets and exercised more, experts claim.

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Daily Mail (UK) - Binge Britain 'on course' to be liver disease capital of Europe

Britain is on course to be the European capital of liver disease because of the twin effects of alcohol and obesity. Our death rate from liver conditions already exceeds that of France, Italy and Spain, and experts expect it will soon soar past Germany’s.

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7thSpace Interactive - Alcohol outlets and clusters of violence

Alcohol related violence continues to be a major public health problem in the United States. In particular, there is substantial evidence of an association between alcohol outlets and assault.

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Polymorphisms in ABLIM1 are Associated with Personality Traits and Alcohol Dependence

Personality traits like novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), and reward dependence (RD) are known to be moderately heritable (30-60%). These personality traits and their comorbidities, such as alcohol dependence (AD), may share genetic components. 

We examined 11,120 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 292 nuclear families from the Genetic Analysis Workshop 14, a subset from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA).

A family-based association analysis was performed using the FBAT program. NS, HA, and RD were treated as quantitative traits and AD as a binary trait.
 

Based on a multivariate association test of three quantitative traits in FBAT, we observed 20 SNPs with p < 10(-3). 

Interestingly, several genes (TESK2, TIPARP, THEMIS, ABLIM1, RFX4, STON2 and LILRA1) are associated with three personality traits with p < 10(-3) using single trait analysis and AD. 

Especially, SNP rs727532 within ABLIM1 gene at 10q25 showed the most significant association (p = 6.4 × 10(-5)) in the multivariate test and strong associations with NS, HA, RD, and AD (p = 4.48 × 10(-4), 1.2 × 10(-5), 5.6 × 10(-5), 3.12 × 10(-4), respectively) in the COGA sample. 

In addition, the association of rs727532 with AD was confirmed in a replication study. 

This study reports some newly recognized associations between several genetic loci and both AD and three personality traits.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:     wangk@etsu.edu.

Acetate Causes Alcohol Hangover Headache in Rats

The mechanism of veisalgia cephalgia or hangover headache is unknown. Despite a lack of mechanistic studies, there are a number of theories positing congeners, dehydration, or the ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde as causes of hangover headache.
 
We used a chronic headache model to examine how pure ethanol produces increased sensitivity for nociceptive behaviors in normally hydrated rats.
 
Ethanol initially decreased sensitivity to mechanical stimuli on the face (analgesia), followed 4 to 6 hours later by inflammatory pain. Inhibiting alcohol dehydrogenase extended the analgesia whereas inhibiting aldehyde dehydrogenase
decreased analgesia. Neither treatment had nociceptive effects. Direct administration of acetate increased nociceptive behaviors suggesting that acetate, not acetaldehyde, accumulation results in hangover-like hypersensitivity in our model. Since adenosine accumulation is a result of acetate formation, we administered an adenosine antagonist that blocked
hypersensitivity.
 
Our study shows that acetate contributes to hangover headache. These findings provide insight into the mechanism of hangover headache and the mechanism of headache induction.




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Common genetic influences on depression, alcohol, and substance use disorders in Mexican-American families

Multiple genetic and environmental factors influence the risk for both major depression and alcohol/substance use disorders. In addition, there is evidence that these illnesses share genetic factors. Although, the heritability of these illnesses is well established, relatively few studies have focused on ethnic minority populations. 

Here, we document the prevalence, heritability, and genetic correlations between major depression and alcohol and drug disorders in a large, community-ascertained sample of Mexican-American families. 

A total of 1,122 Mexican-American individuals from 71 extended pedigrees participated in the study. All subjects received in-person psychiatric interviews. Heritability, genetic, and environmental correlations were estimated using SOLAR. 

Thirty-five percent of the sample met criteria for DSM-IV lifetime major depression, 34% met lifetime criteria for alcohol use disorders, and 8% met criteria for lifetime drug use disorders. 

The heritability for major depression was estimated to be h² = 0.393 (P = 3.7 × 10⁻⁶). Heritability estimates were higher for recurrent depression (h² = 0.463, P = 4.0 × 10⁻⁶) and early onset depression (h² = 0.485, P = 8.5 × 10⁻⁵). 

While the genetic correlation between major depression and alcohol use disorders was significant (ρ_g = 0.58, P = 7 × 10⁻³), the environmental correlation between these traits was not significant. 

Although, there is evidence for increased rates of depression and substance use in US-born individuals of Mexican ancestry, our findings indicate that genetic control over major depression and alcohol/substance use disorders in the Mexican-American population is similar to that reported in other populations.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:  olverar@uthscsa.edu

Baseline functioning among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence

Comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD) may lead to a complicated and potentially severe treatment profile. 

Our study examined 167 individuals with both PTSD and AD compared with 105 individuals with PTSD without an alcohol use disorder (AUD) and 240 individuals with AD without PTSD on baseline psychosocial functioning. 

We hypothesized that individuals with PTSD/AD would be more socially and functionally impaired than individuals with only one disorder. 

Results indicated that participants with PTSD/AD were more likely to be unemployed, have less education, and report less income and were less likely to live with a partner than the participants with only a single disorder.

However, they did not differ on symptom severity within these disorders (drinking frequency/quantity, PTSD, and anxiety symptoms) with the exception of depression and alcohol craving. 

This contradicts clinical lore that comorbid patients are more impaired at treatment initiation and adds support for concurrent treatment as not only feasible but also possibly ideal for these patients.



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Request Reprint E-Mail:  drapkin_m@mail.trc.upenn.edu 

Depressive symptoms as a predictor of alcohol relapse after residential treatment programs for alcohol use disorder

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and depressive disorders often co-occur. Findings on the effects of major depressive disorder (MDD) or depressive symptoms on posttreatment alcohol relapse are controversial. 

The study's aim is to examine the association of MDD and depressive symptoms with treatment outcomes after residential AUD programs.

In a naturalistic-prospective, multisite study with 12 residential AUD treatment programs in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, 64 patients with AUD with MDD, 283 patients with AUD with clinically significant depressive symptoms at admission, and 81 patients with AUD with such problems at discharge were compared with patients with AUD only on alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and treatment service utilization. MDD was provisionally identified at admission and definitively defined at discharge. 

Whereas patients with MDD did not differ from patients with AUD only at 1-year follow-up, patients with AUD with clinically significant depressive symptoms had significantly shorter time-to-first-drink and a lower abstinence rate. 

These patients also had elevated AUD indices and treatment service utilization for psychiatric disorders. 

Our results suggest that clinically significant depressive symptoms are a substantial risk factor for relapse so that it may be important to treat them during and after residential AUD treatment programs.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:  moggi@puk.unibe.ch 

Alcohol-drinking patterns and metabolic syndrome risk: the 2007 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Alcohol consumption has been known to be related to the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS). Although some studies have revealed that mild to moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of MS, most of these studies have focused the effect of alcohol consumption amount on MS. 

We examined the association between alcohol-drinking patterns and MS by using the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) questionnaire to study 1,768 alcohol drinkers (847 men, 921 women) aged 20–75 years from Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2007. 

When compared with the subjects in the reference group (AUDIT score ≤7), the odds ratios (ORs, 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for MS of subjects in the highest group (AUDIT score ≥16) were 3.92 (2.40–6.22) in men and 2.27 (0.87–5.89) in women after adjusting for confounding variables. 

Among the items of the AUDIT score, several alcohol-drinking patterns, including “drinking frequency,” “usual drinking quantity,” “frequency of high-risk drinking,” “frequency of inability to stop drinking,” “frequency of feeling guilty after drinking,” and “frequency of inability to remember after drinking” were strongly associated with the prevalence of MS in men. 

In women, there were significant relationships between MS and “usual drinking quantity,” “frequency of feeling guilty after drinking,” and “frequency of inability to stop drinking.” 

In summary, AUDIT score was strongly associated with MS in Korean adults, particularly in men.
 

Accordingly, in addition to the amount of daily alcohol consumption, alcohol-drinking patterns should be addressed in the prevention and treatment of MS.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:  ukyjhome@yuhs.ac  

WHO global forum: Addressing the challenge of noncommunicable diseases

Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) - cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic lung diseases and diabetes - kill 3 out of 5 people on the planet, this is over 36 million annually. Alcohol is the second leading cause of NCDs, next to tobacco, poor diet and physical inactivity.

It is estimated that a quarter of NCD deaths are of people in prime of their lives, who are under 60.

First global ministerial conference on healthy lifestyles and NCD control was held in Moscow 28-29 April with Ministers and the national delegations from some 94 member participating.

The conference highlighted the magnitude and socio economic impact of NCDs and emphasised the need to strengthen global and national initiatives to prevent NCDS as part of national health efforts.

The meeting concluded with launch of a Moscow declaration.

> > > >  Read More

An evaluation of a screening and brief intervention pilot project for hazardous and harmful drinkers within the accident and emergency department of Manchester Royal Infirmary

Hazardous and harmful drinkers make up a significant percentage of A and E attendees, and brief interventions have been shown to reduce harm among this particular group. 

This paper evaluates a pilot project which introduced a screening and brief intervention programme within the A and E department.

This project aimed to screen and offer brief interventions to attendees and to refer on to local alcohol services if required.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: mozzarmn@aol.com   

Alcohol outlets and clusters of violence

Alcohol related violence continues to be a major public health problem in the United States. In particular, there is substantial evidence of an association between alcohol outlets and assault. However, because the specific geographic relationships between alcohol outlets and the distribution of violence remains obscured, it is important to identify the spatial linkages that may exist, enhancing public health efforts to curb both violence and morbidity.

The present study utilizes police-recorded data on simple and aggravated assaults in Cincinnati, Ohio. Addresses of alcohol outlets for Cincinnati, including all bars, alcohol-serving restaurants, and off-premise liquor and convenience stores were obtained from the Ohio Division of Liquor Control and geocoded for analysis. A combination of proximity analysis, spatial cluster detection approaches and a geographic information system were used to identify clusters of alcohol outlets and the distribution of violence around them.

A brief review of the empirical work relating to alcohol outlet density and violence is provided, noting that the majority of this literature is cross-sectional and ecological in nature, yielding a somewhat haphazard and aggregate view of how outlet type(s) and neighborhood characteristics like social organization and land use are related to assaultive violence. The results of the statistical analysis for Cincinnati suggests that while alcohol outlets are not problematic per se, assaultive violence has a propensity to cluster around agglomerations of alcohol outlets. This spatial relationship varies by distance and is also related to the characteristics of the alcohol outlet agglomeration. Specifically, spatially dense distributions of outlets appear to be more prone to clusters of assaultive violence when compared to agglomerations with a lower density of outlets.

With a more thorough understanding of the spatial relationships between alcohol outlets and the distribution of assaults, policymakers in urban areas can make more informed regulatory decisions regarding alcohol licenses. Further, this research suggests that public health officials and epidemiologists need to develop a better understanding of what actually occurs in and around alcohol outlets, determining what factors (whether outlet, neighborhood, or spatially related) help fuel their relationship with violence and other alcohol-related harm.

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Do Community Characteristics Predict Alcohol-Related Crime?

Alcohol-related crime is a substantial community problem. There is evidence to suggest that certain geographic areas experience higher rates of alcohol-related crime and that both individual and community factors are associated with alcohol-related crime. There is limited research at the community level despite communities being the target of interventions designed to reduce alcohol-related harm. 

This study aims to determine whether there are differences in alcohol-related crime at the community level and examines whether certain community characteristics are associated with increased alcohol-related crime.  

Routinely collected police data from 20 rural communities in New South Wales, Australia were analysed. The ratio of alcohol to non-alcohol-related criminal incidents was used as a proxy for alcohol-related crime. Predictor variables were population-adjusted community characteristics, including demographic and resource variables.

Regression analyses suggest that there are differences between communities in alcohol-related crime. Less socioeconomic disadvantage and more GPs and licensed premises (pubs and clubs) are associated with greater alcohol-related crime at the community level.  

Decreasing the socioeconomic well-being of a community is not appropriate; however, introducing additional taxes to increase the cost of alcohol may decrease consumption and therefore alcohol-related crime. Reducing or capping the number of licensed premises, specifically the number of pubs and clubs, may be an appropriate strategy to reduce alcohol-related crime in rural communities. 


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Request Reprint E-Mail:  courtney.breen@unsw.edu.au 

Mortality 6 years after inpatient treatment of female Japanese patients with eating disorders associated with alcoholism

This study was conducted to clarify the mortality of patients with eating disorders associated with alcoholism. We focused on the mortality rate 6 years after inpatient treatment of patients with eating disorders associated with alcoholism compared with eating disorder patients without alcoholism and alcoholic patients without eating disorders.

The subjects were 164 female Japanese patients 30 years of age or younger with eating disorders or alcoholism who were inpatients at some time during the period from 1990 to 1998 at the Japanese National Hospital Organization, Kurihama Alcoholism Center. A semi-structured interview concerning alcohol problems, eating problems, psychiatric disorders and other clinical characteristics was conducted at the time of the first admission. A survey concerning survival was conducted in October 2001, and 100% of the patients were followed up.

The mortality of the 47 eating disorder patients with alcoholism, 86 eating disorder patients without alcoholism, and 31 alcoholics without eating disorders was 27.7%, 3.5%, and 19.4%, respectively, at 6 years after inpatient treatment, showing significant differences. On the Kaplan–Meier survival curves, the mortality of the eating disorder patients with alcoholism was significantly higher than that of the patients without alcoholism, but not significantly higher than that of young female alcoholics without eating disorders. The 13 eating disorder patients with alcoholism who had died were five anorexia nervosa and seven bulimia nervosa patients.

The results of the study suggest that comorbid alcoholism is a major factor in the death of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa patients.



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Request Reprint E-Mail:   suzuki-k@d9.dion.ne.jp  

The Global Alcohol Policy Conference 2011 in Bangkok in November

The consumption of alcohol makes a significant contribution to alcohol related harm globally. In emerging markets and among younger groups increased consumption is apparent. Effective policy is not implemented as widely as is needed. A concerted effort in controlling alcohol related harm is greatly needed and will involve multiple partners, including academia, civil society organizations and government bodies. Global cooperation can play a significant role in supporting and complementing worldwide national and local actions.

The Global Alcohol Policy Conference 2011 is jointly organized by government, intergovernmental and the NGO sector. The Thai Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organization, the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation are co hosts of the Global Alcohol Policy Conference 2011. The conference will mark an important milestone for global alcohol control efforts following on from the endorsement of the WHO Global Strategy on Alcohol in 2010. The conference will bring together leaders from all over the world who are committed to working towards the development and implementation of effective alcohol policy free from commercial influence. It will provide an opportunity for policy makers, advocates, academics, and campaigners to share and exchange their knowledge and experience. The conference will also be a platform for developing a truly global network and for discussing future efforts at the global level to reduce problems from alcohol.

The year 2011 also highlights the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, the forefront organization that fight against the harmful use of alcohol in Thailand. 

> > > >  Read More

Experts Say Alcohol Marketing Encourages Harmful Drinking

Efforts by alcoholic beverage makers to boost sales by appealing to younger drinkers contribute to drinking patterns that are harmful to health, said experts at a panel discussion on “Alcohol, Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases and Public Health,” held this week at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

While alcoholic beverage makers say their ads are aimed only at consumers who are at or over the legal purchase age, research shows that viewing of alcohol ads by under-age youths has increased by nearly 70 percent over the past decade, said David Jernigan, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. > > > >  Read More

FASD News - 19/2011

Wales Online (Wales) - Birth defects caused by drinking in pregnancy soar in Wales

THE number of babies born with birth defects linked to women drinking too much alcohol during pregnancy has risen by 10% in Wales in a year. Although the numbers remain small, the sharp rise in cases of foetal alcohol syndrome has been met with concern by experts.

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Wwl.com (USA) - New mom angered by questions about abortion, smoking and drinking

Should new moms be required to tell the state if they smoked cigarettes or drank alcohol during pregnancy? How about if they have ever had an abortion? "The ACLU of Louisiana called on the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals today to clarify that new mothers do not have to disclose private medical information before birth certificates are issued for their newborns," said Executive Director Marjorie Esman in a news release.

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Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand) - Making better babies

LoulaGeorge was surprised by the attention given to an announcement by the prime minister's chief science adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman, that he had discovered a link between a mother's diet during pregnancy and the chances of her baby later being obese.

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Daily Press (USA) - Substance-abuse program helps pregnant women deliver healthy babies

Nicole Billiot faced a choice: Go to jail, or go to the South-Eastern Family Project. She chose the latter. As a result, she will give her baby the chance to be born drug and alcohol free.

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KSBY San Luis Obispo News (USA) - Program may have to help fewer kids who 'got a hard start in the world'

A program that helps local children who suffered parental abuse before they were even born faces severe budget cuts. Martha's Place, in San Luis Obispo, specializes in treating kids up to age 5 born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It also helps children abused as infants.

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Cape Breton Post (Australia) - Bar association president offers insight on several initiatives

The president of the Canadian Bar Association has some key initiatives he’ll be working on during his term including discussions on how best to deal with offenders suffering with fetal alcohol syndrome and how to make the justice system more accessible to the middle class.

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Northern News Services (Canada) - Manual offers tips to employers on helping workers with FASD

The Yellowknife Association for Community Living has created a manual, FASD -- A Practical Guide For Employers, to help educate businesses about the disorder and ways they can accommodate employees with the condition.

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RESEARCH:

Western Journal of Nursing Research - Effects of a Motivational Interviewing Intervention to Decrease Prenatal Alcohol Use

This study determined the effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI) to decrease prenatal alcohol use, while examining mechanisms of behavior change based on self-determination theory that may have evoked decreases in drinking behaviors.

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Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs - Field Trial of Alcohol-Server Training for Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Supplemental responsible beverage service training for alcohol servers to aid in the prevention of fetal alcohol exposure can be effective in reducing the serving of alcohol to visibly pregnant women, with robust effects continuing over the subsequent year in the New Mexico establishments.

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Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs - Effects of Premature Birth on the Risk for Alcoholism Appear to Be Greater in Males Than Females

The results suggest that neurodevelopmental sequelae of premature birth are associated with gender-specific effects on the development of alcoholism in the male baby: small, premature, or growth-delayed male babies appear to be selectively vulnerable to alcoholic drinking years later. The findings implicate neurodevelopmental influences in alcoholism pathophysiology in males and suggest the possibility of distinct, gender-specific pathways in the etiology of severe problem drinking.

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MATERIALS

VIDEOCAST:

CC Grand Rounds Lecture: (1) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Etiology, Epidemiology, and Advances in Diagnosis (2) Nicotine Pharmacology Versus Nicotine Addiction: Different Sites, Different Mechanisms

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

(1) Kenneth R. Warren, PhD, Acting Director, NIAAA

(2) Elliot A. Stein, PhD, Chief, Neuroimaging Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIDA

Download VIDEO - http://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?File=16613&download=1

SOMETHING FROM LONG TIME AGO: IHE Consensus Development Conference

http://www.fasd-cmc.alberta.ca/education-training/archived-sessions/categories/ihe-consensus-development-conference/

PUBLICATIONS:

Three recent publications available from Public Health Agency of Canada’s FASD Initiative

Early primary school outcomes associated with maternal use of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy and with exposure to parent alcohol and tobacco use postnatally

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An Inventory of Education and Training Programs: FASD and the Judicial/Criminal Justice System

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Assessment and Diagnosis of FASD Among Adults: A National and International Systematic Review

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CONTROVERSIAL:

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies - Ban Baby-Making Unless Parents Are Licensed

For the sake of the children, let’s control human breeding. No one should be permitted to reproduce until they pass a battery of tests. Does that proposal enrage you? Go ahead, hate me. Call me vile names like “Neo-Nazi-Elitist-Baby-Killing-Totalitarian-Sicko.” Or simply “Eugenicist.” I don’t care. I know I’m right.

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IN OTHER LANGUAGES:

Kehitysvammaliitto (Finland) - Uusi kirja raskaudenaikaisesta alkoholinkäytöstä ja sen aiheuttamista sikiövaurioista

Mitä jos äiti joi raskauden aikana? Minkälaisia vaurioita lapselle voi tulla ja minkälaista on alkoholin vaurioittaman lapsen elämä? Näihin kysymyksiin vastaa VTL Suvi Vaarlan toimittama teos Alkoholin vaurioittamat. Raskaudenaikaisen alkoholinkäytön vaikutukset lapsen elämään. (Kehitysvammaliitto 2011).

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DELFI.lv (Latvia) - Augļa alkohola sindroms

Augļa alkohola sindroms ir grūtniecības laikā lietoto alkoholisko dzērienu radītās etanola sekas bērnam. Augļa alkohola sindromu, kas iekļauts arī Starptautiskajā slimību klasifikatorā, raksturo triāde.

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