Aims

To support the free and open dissemination of research findings and information on alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. To encourage open access to peer-reviewed articles free for all to view.

For full versions of posted research articles readers are encouraged to email requests for "electronic reprints" (text file, PDF files, FAX copies) to the corresponding or lead author, who is highlighted in the posting.

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

FASD News - 31/2011


NEWS AND ARTICLES
Times of India - Binge drinkers have sex they later regret
A new study has found that binge drinking puts teenage girls at risk of having unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancies and contracting sexually-transmitted diseases.
The Imperfect Parent (USA) - Pregnant teen says she’ll continue to drink ‘or she’ll get bored’
As health professionals try to work out exactly how much alcohol can be consumed before a baby is potentially damaged, and conduct studies on the effects alcohol during pregnancy has on children as they grow older, it appears that the message that alcohol should not be drunk during pregnancy is not getting through.
University of Rochester Newsroom - Study Evaluates Tools to Encourage a Healthy Pregnancy
The University of Rochester Medical Center and Cornell University have teamed up to launch a major study that will assess electronic and web-based strategies designed to promote healthy behavior in women both during and immediately following their pregnancy.
6minutes (Australia) - Women still drink and smoke in pregnancy
A high number of Australian women are still drinking alcohol and smoking during pregnancy, research suggests.
NHS Choices (UK) - Unplanned babies' learning examined
“IVF children have bigger vocabulary than unplanned babies,” The Daily Telegraph has reported. The news is based on a large study investigating how pregnancy planning, time taken to conceive and the use of infertility treatment (including IVF) influenced cognitive ability of children at ages three and five.
Lethbridge Herald (Canada) - FASD: '10-second kids in a one-second world'
"John" is all too familiar with Canada's criminal justice system. He's been to court numerous times over the years on charges he'd rather not talk about, and he's spent time in jail.
Brew Drinking Thinkings - Could You Cut Out Alcohol Completely?
I have recently become a Mummy for the first time, having had my daughter on Christmas Eve 2010. As soon as I found out I was pregnant I didnʼt touch a drop of alcohol. I know that Government guidelines say it is safe to drink a little as long as it is moderation, but I made the choice to abstain from drinking altogether.
WIA Report (Australia) - Study Finds That Australian Women With College Degrees Are More Likely to Drink Alcohol During Pregnancy Than Australian Women With Lower Levels of Education
Prior research has shown that about 60 percent of young adult women in the United States are regular consumers of alcohol. In Australia, 87 percent of young adult women drink.
Examiner - Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) develop secondary problems
Children who are born with fetal alcohol syndrome are likely to develop a wide range of secondary conditions, problems that they were not born with, but can acquire as a result of having FAS.
Shine - The dangers of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Many know the dangers of consumer alcohol during pregnancy, but the lifelong effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome sometimes go unknown.
RESEARCH
Alcoholism - Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) Abnormalities Across the Life Span of Rats Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol
Our findings have important clinical implications for the assessment and management of (i) childhood hearing disorders and their comorbidities (i.e., speech-and-language, learning, and attention deficit disorders) and (ii) enhanced age-related hearing and neurological degeneration in middle-aged adulthood that can result from prenatal alcohol exposure.
OxfordJournals - Abnormal Cortical Thickness Alterations in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and Their Relationships with Facial Dysmorphology
Consistent with previous reports, findings of this study are supportive of regional increases in cortical thickness serving as a biomarker for disrupted brain development in FASD. Furthermore, the significant associations between thickness and dysmorphic measures suggest that the severity of brain anomalies may be reflected by that of the face.
Behavioural Brain Research - Comparative effects of alcohol and thiamine deficiency on the developing central nervous system
The present study addresses the still unresolved issue of the character of alcohol–thiamine metabolic interferences in the developing central nervous system (CNS).
Alcoholism - Translation of an Evidence-Based Social Skills Intervention for Children with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in a Community Mental Health Setting
Results suggest that children with PAE can benefit from treatments initiated in community settings in which therapists are trained to understand their unique developmental needs, and that they can be successfully integrated into treatment protocols that include children without PAE.
Alcohol Research & Health Volume 34, Issue Number 1
The adverse effects of prenatal alcohol consumption have long been known; however, a formal description and clinical diagnosis of these effects was not introduced until 1973. Since then, the distinction of the wide range of effects that can be induced by prenatal alcohol exposure, and, consequently, the terminology to describe these effects has continued to evolve.
Alcoholism - Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Cerebellum and Eyeblink Conditioning in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
This study extends recent findings that have used DTI to reveal microstructural deficits in white matter in children with FASD. This is the first DTI study to demonstrate mediation of a fetal alcohol-related effect on neuropsychological function by deficits in white matter integrity.

COMING EVENTS
Eurocare - Protecting the unborn baby from alcohol, 7 September 2011, European Parliament, Brussels
This event is jointly organized by European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare) and the Polish State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol-Related Problems (PARPA) to mark International Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Day.

MATERIALS
Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse Center - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Fetal Alcohol Results Video clip Part two
Fetal alcohol syndrome is among the most frequent recognized triggers of psychological retardation and as these, it is a key public well being difficulty.
Pregnant? Think! Don't Drink! FASD Prevention Handbook
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, District II is educating thousands of women across New York State about the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. The College has developed a public friendly, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) prevention handbook.
Journal of Psychiatry & Law - SPECIAL ISSUE: FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Rynek Zrdowia (Poland) - Pijane ciąże - co roku kolejnych kilkaset dzieci wymaga leczenia. Bo matki piły...
Z badań wynika, że 33 proc. kobiet w wieku prokreacyjnym piło alkohol w czasie ciąży. Co najmniej kilkaset z nich rodzi dziecko z pełnoobjawowym alkoholowym zespołem płodowym - FAS. Są i takie matki, które piły alkohol sporadycznie, a ich dzieci wykazują cechy tego syndromu. W wykazie chorób uprawniających dziecko do świadczeń specjalnych takiego schorzenia w ogóle nie ma.