American Academy of Pediatrics (USA) - Joint
Call to Action on Alcohol and Pregnancy
Through its cooperative agreement with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center on Birth
Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) the AAP Division of Children
with Special Needs Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) program staff
convened an FASD Risk Communication Workshop from July 30–31, 2012.
Science Network Western Australia (Australia) -
Young people with FASD: treatment under law scrutinised
A SURVEY among police, corrective services and
WA’s legal institutions has revealed 85 per cent of staff at various levels
within the organisations have dealt with young people with fetal alcohol
spectrum disorder (FASD).
The Northern Echo (UK) - Prime Minister
praises Stockton foster carer who wins Big Society award
A FOSTER carer who set up a support group for
families has been described as an "amazing woman" by Prime Minister David
Cameron.
Eurekalert - Study finds women who drink
alcohol before pregnancy less likely to take multivitamins
Researchers from the University of California,
San Diego Department of Pediatrics and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, a
research affiliate of UC San Diego School of Medicine, have found a link between
multivitamin use and alcohol consumption before pregnancy, uncovering a need for
education about the importance of vitamin supplementation, particularly among
women who drink alcohol during their childbearing years.
Womens Weekly (Australia) - Should bar staff
refuse to serve alcohol to pregnant women?
Would you serve a pregnant woman alcohol? If
not, you'd be acting illegally and could be sued, as Triana O'Keefe discovered
recently.
NeuroDevNet - One week in FASD: conflicting
insights on alcohol consumption in pregnancy in UK study and Canadian
guideline
A new Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse
guideline declares “zero’s the limit” for alcohol consumption for women who are
pregnant or planning to become pregnant, while the same week, the British
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology issued a press release on study suggesting
light drinking during pregnancy is not linked to adverse behavioural or
cognitive outcomes in childhood.
Drugfree.org - Commentary: Creating a Circle
of Hope to Prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders
Kathleen Tavenner Mitchell, Vice President and
National Spokesperson for the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,
explains why she founded The Circle of Hope, a mentoring program for birth
mothers of children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders.
Medical Daily - Rich Women Most Likely to
Binge Drink
Binge drinking is a risk factor in many health
and social problems that affect women, including unintentional injuries,
violence, liver disease, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, breast and other
cancers, reduced cognitive function, and alcohol dependence.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Asante Center - Annual FASD Fall
Conference
The 6th Annual FASD Fall Conference:
Understanding Trauma, will take place on Saturday, November 23, 2013 at Douglas
College in New Westminster. Registration will open in early fall 2013.
First International Conference on Prevention
of FASD
This is the first international conference to
address the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of FASD. Plenary sessions
will promote discussion and reflection on promising and innovative approaches
for preventing FASD, such as policies and programs to address alcohol use and
the social determinants of health.
NeuroDevNet - Call for Proposals - FASD
Throughout the Lifespan and FACE Research Roundtable Sept. 5-7 2013
FASD Newfoundland is hosting a national FASD
conference and research roundtable Sept. 5-6, 2013, followed by the 14th annual
Fetal Alcohol Canadian Expertise (FACE) Research Roundtable Sept. 7, 2013 in St.
John's Newfoundland.
VIDEOS and MATERIALS
YourAlberta - Talking with Women about
Alcohol and Pregnancy
This session addresses FASD prevention in
relation to how we communicate with pregnant women and women in their
childbearing years that may be of risk.
Myles Himmelreich Speaks About Living with
FASD
A young Calgary man living with FASD speaks out
about his struggles.
YourAlberta - FASD 101: Diagnosis and Support
of FASD
Dr. Andrew discusses the history and terminology
of FASD, biological impact of alcohol on prenatal brain development, and
diagnostic process with a multidisciplinary team.
YourAlberta - Teacher and Parent
Relationships – FASD
In this session, Charlene, Debra and Jenifer
explore effective educational strategies from the perspectives of a student, a
parent, and a teacher.
YourAlberta - Cognitive Interventions for
Individuals with FASD
Carmen and Jacquie will review previous research
studies on cognitive interventions for children with FASD and discuss new
Alberta-based research.
YourAlberta - FASD and Practice: Issues for
School Administrators
In this session, the panel discusses the role of
administrators in the process of educating students affected by FASD.
YourAlberta - Enhancing Employability for
Persons with FASD
Annette and Brian discuss how FASD affects the
brain, what types of jobs are more suited to people affected by FASD, and things
employers should know.
YourAlberta - Opening the Brain Boxes –
FASD
Brain Boxes is a program for youth that breaks
the brain into "boxes", so that they can better understand the strong and
vulnerable parts of the brain.
YourAlberta - The Implications of
Neuroplasticity for a Brain Affected by FASD
The principles of brain plasticity and brain
development when affected by FASD are reviewed. There is also discussion of the
implications for interventions.
YourAlberta – MathDeficits-in-FASD
YourAlberta - Building Brain Boxes –
FASD
By understanding how the brain works with the
body, sensory inputs, and the social world, youth can make conscious choices in
daily thinking.
YourAlberta - Friendship? Dating? Sex?
Relationships in the Complex FASD World
This session explores issues in relationships
for persons affected by FASD. Pam and Danna will discuss the skills needed to be
successful in relationships.
YourAlberta - Reactive Attachment Disorder
and FASD: A Bio-Psychosocial Model for Diagnosis and Treatment
Andrew and Wanda explore what attachment is, the
process of attachment, attachment disorders, plus therapeutic and parenting
strategies as it relates to FASD.
YourAlberta - Reframing Life with
FASD
Candace, a young lady raised in foster care,
shares her uplifting story on how she has been resilient, successful, and
hopeful for herself and her children.
YourAlberta - Psychological Issues in
Children and Adults with FASD
This workshop will explore the relationship
between the needs of caregivers and the availability of resources for diagnosis,
treatment and support for children with FASD.
YourAlberta - Creating a Brain-Friendly Life
– FASD
A collaborative session intended for young
people affected by FASD and those who support them.
RESEARCH
Addiction Medicine - The Impact of Prenatal
Alcohol Exposure on Addiction Treatment
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are
conditions caused by prenatal alcohol exposure in amounts sufficient to cause
permanent deficits in brain functioning.
Behavioural Brain Research - Neonatal alcohol
exposure impairs contextual fear conditioning in juvenile rats by disrupting
cholinergic function
The context preexposure facilitation effect
(CPFE) is a variant of context fear conditioning in which context preexposure
facilitates conditioning to immediate foot shock.
Alcoholism - The Role of Acidemia in Maternal
Binge Alcohol-Induced Alterations in Fetal Bone Functional Properties
Heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy
negatively impacts the physical growth of the fetus. Although the deleterious
effects of alcohol exposure during late gestation on fetal brain development are
well documented, little is known about the effect on fetal bone mechanical
properties or the underlying mechanisms.
Alcoholism - Rehabilitation Training Using
Complex Motor Learning Rescues Deficits in Eyeblink Classical Conditioning in
Female Rats Induced by Binge-Like Neonatal Alcohol Exposure
Effective treatments for the behavioral and
cognitive deficits in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are
lacking, and translational approaches using animal models can help develop
rational interventions.
CPHA - Alcohol Use During Pregnancy in
Canada: How Policy Moments Can Create Opportunities for Promoting Women’s
Health
This article addresses the challenge of igniting
action on health promotion for women in Canada with respect to alcohol use
during pregnancy. We illustrate that accelerated action on health promotion for
women that engages multiple levels of players, women-centred and harm-reduction
frameworks and a gendered approach to understanding women’s lives can be
achieved when the right policy moment occurs.
IN OTHER LANGUAGES
General-Anzeiger (Germany) - Im Mutterleib
durch Alkohol geschädigt
Überforderung, Chaos und Verzweiflung ist was
manche Menschen ihr Leben lang empfinden, weil sie durch den Alkoholkonsum ihrer
Mutter während der Schwangerschaft geschädigt wurden. Sie leiden unter Fetalen
Alkoholspektrum-Störungen, kurz: FASD für "Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder".
