NEWS and ARTICLES
Wort.lu (Luxembourg) - 16 percent of women in Luxembourg admit to drinking alcohol during pregnancy
According to a survey carried out by the Health Ministry at the Bohler Clinic and the Maternité Grande-Duchesse Charlotte between August and October 2012, 16 percent of the polled pregnant women consumed alcohol during their pregnancy.
KCSG (USA) - Aims To Raise Awareness During FASD Month With Launch Of Free Service For Pregnant Women
It’s been 40 years since Kenneth Lyons Jones, MD, and David Smith, MD, first identified Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) after examining several children with similar traits who had all been born to chronic alcoholic mothers. Today, despite the well-documented spectrum of negative physical and mental effects alcohol can have on the developing fetus, Jones says it’s a “major public concern” that 1 in 13 women still drink alcohol during pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
StarPhoenix (Canada) - Justice system needs to address FASD
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is a "major issue" that the justice system in our province needs to face, says a University of Saskatchewan law professor.
HealthCanal.com (Australia) - Boost for research and clinical care into Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
University of Sydney researcher, Professor Elizabeth Elliott, has had critical input into the federal government's $20 million grant announced today to fund research and prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
PR Web - The Arc Reacts to New Book on Pregnancy Risks, Including Drinking Alcohol: “Why Risk It?”
As the leading organization supporting people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), The Arc is pushing back on the claims put forward in this book that could lead women to believe that light drinking during pregnancy is statistically safe.
The Herald - Alcohol and Pregnancy Advice in New Book is Flawed and Harmful
A new book, Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong-and What You Really Need to Know, misrepresents the risk of alcohol use during pregnancy by concluding that light drinking is completely safe, according to the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS).
MATERIALS and VIDEOS
CNSAAP - Essentials of … Women and Problematic Substance Use
Although the majority of women in Canada do not use substances problematically, the personal harms vary for those who do and include physical; psychological, emotional or behavioural; social; spiritual; familial; and legal consequences.
FASD Patient Education Video - Newborn Channel Version
This patient education video, produced by ACOG District II, addresses the prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders FASD. The piece was picked up by the Newborn Channel, which is available in more than 1,000 hospitals across America -- including nearly 80 hospitals in New York State and reaches more than 2.5 million new mothers every year.
RESEARCH
Journal of Research and Practice in Children's Services - Canadian Children and Youth in Care: The Cost of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
The study findings can be used to demonstrate the substantial economic burden that FASD places on the child welfare system. Attention towards the needs of this population and prevention efforts to reduce FASD incidence in Canada, and other countries are urgently needed.
CDC - Key Findings: The effects of alcohol use during pregnancy and later developmental outcomes: An analysis of previous studies
The journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research has published a meta-analysis of multiple studies examining how drinking patterns of women during pregnancy (such as low-to-moderate alcohol use or binge drinking*) can affect the development of their children.
International Journal of Circumpolar Health - An Examination of the Social Determinants of Health as Factors Related to Health, Healing and Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in a Northern Context – The Brightening Our Home Fires Project, Northwest Territories, Canada
This project drew 30 participants from: Yellowknife, Lutsel ‘ke, Behchoko¨ and Ulukhaktok. These four different communities across the NT represented Dene and Inuit culture. The qualitative data analysis offered themes of importance to women’s health in the north including: land and tradition; housing; poverty; food; family; health, mental health and trauma, and travel. Photovoice provides a non-threatening way to engage in dialogue on complex health and social issues.
International Journal of Circumpolar Health - Prenatal alcohol exposure among Alaska Native/American Indian infants
Recent reports indicate a decline in rates of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) among Alaska Native and American Indian (AN/AI) infants. Nevertheless, AN/AI infants remain disproportionately impacted by the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure.
Uknowledge - THE CULTURAL POLITICS OF FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS AND THE DIAGNOSIS OF DIFFERENCE
This dissertation is based on an ethnographic study of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and the racial, cultural and political considerations that shape the meaning of diagnosis for Alaska Native individuals and families in Anchorage, Alaska.
J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol - Alcohol Consumption Among Women
Alcohol (ethanol) consumption in pregnancy is the etiology of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a leading cause of congenital disability worldwide. Hence, any attempt to prevent or manage FASD must start from comprehensive understanding of alcohol consumption by women in general, and by women of reproductive years in particular.
Alcohol - Neonatal ethanol exposure results in dose-dependent impairments in the acquisition and timing of the conditioned eyeblink response and altered cerebellar interpositus nucleus and hippocampal CA1 unit activity in adult rats
Exposure to ethanol in neonatal rats results in reduced neuronal numbers in the cerebellar cortex and deep nuclei of juvenile and adult animals. This reduction in cell numbers is correlated with impaired delay eyeblink conditioning (EBC), a simple motor learning task in which a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS; tone) is repeatedly paired with a co-terminating unconditioned stimulus (US; periorbital shock).
Pediatrics - Facial Dysmorphism Across the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Classic facial characteristics of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) are shortened palpebral fissures, smooth philtrum, and thin upper vermillion. We aim to help pediatricians detect facial dysmorphism across the fetal alcohol spectrum, especially among nonsyndromal heavily exposed (HE) individuals without classic facial characteristics.
Alcoholism - Impact of Combined Prenatal Ethanol and Prenatal Stress Exposure on Anxiety and Hippocampal-Sensitive Learning in Adult Offspring
Prenatal ethanol (EtOH) and prenatal stress have both been independently shown to induce learning deficits and anxiety behavior in adult offspring. However, the interactive effects of these 2 developmental teratogens on behavioral outcomes have not been systematically evaluated.
Alcoholism - Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Results in Long-Term Serotonin Neuron Deficits in Female Rats: Modulatory Role of Ovarian Steroids
Previous studies on male rodents found that prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) decreases the number of serotonin immunoreactive (5-HT-ir) neurons in the brainstem. However, data on the effects of PAE in females are lacking.
Alcoholism - Sensory-Motor Deficits in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Assessed Using a Robotic Virtual Reality Platform
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is associated with a large number of cognitive and sensory-motor deficits. In particular, the accurate assessment of sensory-motor deficits in children with FASD is not always simple and relies on clinical assessment tools that may be coarse and subjective.
Alcoholism - Prenatal Ethanol (EtOH) Exposure Alters the Sensitivity of the Adult Dentate Gyrus to Acute EtOH Exposure
Prenatal ethanol (EtOH) exposure results in a spectrum of structural, cognitive, and behavioral abnormalities, collectively termed “fetal alcohol spectrum disorders” (FASDs).
Alcoholism - The Association of Mild, Moderate, and Binge Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Child Neuropsychological Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis
The objective of this review is to evaluate the literature on the association between mild, moderate, and binge prenatal alcohol exposure and child neurodevelopment.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Eurocare - Protecting the unborn baby from alcohol (17 September 2013)
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is the leading known cause of birth defects and developmental disorders in the EU. The event is being held in partnership with the European FASD Alliance (EUFASD).
First International Conference on Prevention of FASD (September 23-25, 2013)
The first international conference to address the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention approaches to FASD.
NOFAS - Living with FASD 12-day Teleseminar (September 9, 2013)
The purpose of this telesummit is to provide families with information about practical strategies to implement at home, based on the newest FASD research. Speakers have been specially selected because they have experience on a professional level and also have first-hand experience raising children with FASD.
IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Derwesten.de (Germany) - Soester Adoptiveltern scheitern mit Klage
Die Adoptiveltern eines alkoholgeschädigten Kindes sind mit einer Schadenersatzklage gegen die Stadt Soest vor dem Oberlandesgericht Hamm gescheitert. Die Ansprüche seien verjährt, entschied jetzt der 11. Zivilsenat.
Borgestadklinikken (Norway) - Magasin om FASD
Som ledd i vårt informasjonsarbeid om alkoholrelaterte fosterskader har vi produsert et magasin med tema FASD. Fagfolk, forskere og brukere deler kunnskap og erfaringer.
