NEWS and ARTICLES
Sky News (South Africa) - South Africa: Women
Drinking To Harm Babies
Mothers in one of South Africa's poorest areas
are drinking heavily to deliberately damage their unborn babies - just so they
can claim disability
benefit .
Globe and Mail - Unplanned parenthood: how
drinking while pregnant changes lives forever
Crystal Piquette is 31 and ripped, her biceps
and flat tummy a testament to the rigours of her factory job. Her life seems
ordinary – she has a boyfriend and five cats, does handicrafts and dreams of
buying a home – but it’s a quantum leap for someone who ran away from home at 17
to live on the street.
Globe and Mail (Canada) - Educating Austin:
supporting kids with fetal alcohol syndrome
School can be a problem for children like Austin
Layte. He was in Grade 3 last year, but spent most of May and June, not in class
but in the principal’s office – visits that mystified a boy who always seem to
have a storm brewing inside.
Scientific American - How Much Alcohol Is
Safe for Expectant Mothers?
On the night of my 32nd birthday, my husband and
I enjoyed a delicious
dinner while on vacation in Orvieto, Italy. To complement my pasta, I
enjoyed a single glass of red wine, my first since learning I was pregnant four
months earlier. Even now my indulgence inspires periodic pangs of guilt: Did I
stunt my son’s potential by sipping that Sangiovese?
Wadena Pioneer Journal (USA) - Public Health
Matters: January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month
Wadena County Public Health wants to let you
know that January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month. Together, with the
National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN), we work to make information
available on how to prevent birth defects and also give support to families who
are dealing with a child born with a birth defect.
Glasgow Evening Times (Wales) - 88% of
pregnant women who tried to quit
smoking started again within 4 weeks
Figures show the message is still not getting
through to women about the dangers of prenatal smoking. A total of 1270 women
were referred to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's Smokefree Pregnancy Service
from From April 1 to September 30 this year.
U.S. News & World Report (USA) -
Thousands of U.S. Babies Born With Cleft Lip, Palate Each Year
It's not clear exactly what causes oral clefts,
according to the March of Dimes. Some factors that have been associated with an
increased risk for cleft lip and palate include changes in some genes, a
deficiency of folic acid before pregnancy, taking certain medications while
pregnant, drinking alcohol during pregnancy and having certain infections during
pregnancy.
The Delta Discovery - The Difference Between
FAS and FAE
Originally, FAS was an acronym for Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome and FAE for Fetal Alcohol Effect. In the early years of research on the
effects of alcohol on the developing fetus, the terms FAS and FAE were used to
distinguish between a syndrome that could be detected by observation and less
noticeable effects from the alcohol upon the developing nervous system.
USA TODAY - Parents plead for easier route to
help mentally ill kids
Starting at age 7, Teddy Shuman would transform
at a moment's notice from a sweet-natured boy who struggled with developmental
disabilities to a child driven by uncontrollable rages.
Health-e (South Africa) - Headway in the
fight against FAS
A far-flung Northern Cape town has been making
world headlines over the last few years. Unfortunately for the wrong reasons - a
2002-study revealed that more than one in 10 (12.2%) children in the De Aar
community had foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), giving the town the highest
reported rate in the world.
The Observer - Drinking While Pregnant: Her
Baby, Your Problem?
It’s your first day as a waiter or waitress. You
walk up to one of your customers, a woman with an oddly familiar glow to her
skin. She looks up, smiling, and orders a glass of pinot noir. Seems normal,
right? Until you look down and notice something odd: the woman is pregnant. What
do you do?
Pix11 (USA) - Outrage as hospitals test
pregnant moms for drugs near low-income neighborhoods
Expecting moms in New York are being drug tested
in hospitals near low income neighborhoods. But pregnancy advocates are calling
the practice racist and discriminatory.
UPCOMING
FASD Throughout the Lifespan: from prevention
to lifelong support
The FASD Association of Newfoundland &
Labrador is inviting you to the FACE Research Roundtable and our conference FASD
Throughout the Lifespan.
FASD Learning series 2012-2013
Sessions are available via live webcast.
College of New Caledonia - FASD Advanced
Diploma Online / FASD Online Courses
This post-diploma program is designed for
professionals who are working with individuals or families affected by FASD.
Classes are provided in a supportive, fully online environment. Join our team of
nationally recognized experts in this field and gain university credits that can
be used toward social, justice, education and health professions.
MOFAS - Video Project Night for Young Adults
Affected by an FASD
We invite young adults affected by an FASD to
join us in creating short videos that feature you, talking about your
experiences. You can talk about what services have been beneficial for you, what
is most frustrating or what would have been more helpful in making you feel
supported and successful. The videos will be short, easy and fun to make.
MATERIALS
Community Living - Supporting Success for
Adults with FASD
CLBC’s new Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
(FASD) Resource Supporting Success for Adults with FASD is designed to be used
by CLBC staff, service providers, community members, family members and others
who work with adults with FASD.
RESEARCH
Annals of Neurology - Prenatal Alcohol
Exposure Affects Vasculature Development in the Neonatal Brain
In mice, prenatal alcohol exposure induced a
reduction of cortical vascular density, loss of the radial orientation of
microvessels, and altered expression of VEGF receptors. Time-lapse experiments
performed on brain slices revealed that ethanol inhibited glutamate-induced
calcium mobilization in endothelial cells, affected plasticity, and promoted
death of microvessels.
Alcoholism - Investigating the Influence of
Prenatal Androgen Exposure and Sibling Effects on Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use
Disorder in Females from Opposite-Sex Twin Pairs
There are robust sex differences for alcohol
phenotypes, with men reporting more drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD)
symptoms than women. However, the sources of these effects are not completely
understood. Sex hormones, a substantial biological sex difference, exert
neurobehavioral influences and are candidates for influencing sex differences in
alcohol phenotypes. This study investigated the effects of prenatal androgens
based on the hypothesis of prenatal hormone transfer, which posits that hormones
from one twin influence the development of a cotwin.
