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The range of harm to an unborn baby due to drinking during pregnancy is called Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Alcohol can hurt the baby’s brain, heart, eyes, and other organs. Children with FASD can have a hard time learning, controlling how they act, and making friends. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause lifelong harm to the unborn child.These nine months last a lifetime. Let’s keep them alcohol-free. FASD affects us all, but it is 100% preventable. 
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South Africa has the highest prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in the world which is more than 14 times the global average. South Africa has an incidence of 111.1 per 1‚000 children‚ followed by Croatia at 53.3 per 1‚000 and Ireland at 47.5 per 1‚000. The global average is 7.7 per 1.000. This is according to research published on August 21 in the American Medical Association journal JAMA Pediatrics. FASD is an umbrella term that includes effects and symptoms caused by drinking during pregnancy. FASD includes foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). FAS is when a woman drinks during pregnancy. Alcohol can disrupt foetal development. Researchers did a meta-analysis of FASD studies from November 1 1973 and June 30 2015. FAS was first described in a study on November 1 1973. In the 24 studies reviewed‚ 1‚416 children up to 16 years in age took part. The studies included six from South Africa‚ six from the United States‚ two from Australia‚ one from Canada‚ two from Croatia‚ four from France‚ two from Italy and one from Norway. Researchers said the studies they included were peer-reviewed‚ had adequate sample sizes and detailed descriptions of participants and their settings. Three of the South African studies were conducted in the Western Cape and the other three in the Northern Cape. According to researchers‚ animals have shown that “even low levels of prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to brain dysfunction‚ which can lead to behavioural abnormalities”. “The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure have lifelong implications‚ and thus‚ FASD is costly for society.” The study found one in every 13 pregnant women that consumed alcohol during pregnancy delivered a child with FASD. Research showed few children are diagnosed at a young age. “As a result‚ the focus of their care will often be on a co-morbid condition.” They list co-morbid conditions such as attention deficit or hyperactivity disorder.
Via ReGenUC
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Il premier Matteo Renzi e il fondatore della più grande compagnia di e-commerce al mondo, Jack Ma, si confrontano in un evento del Vinitaly “Il 9 settembre vogliamo fare la giornata del vino, 9 in cinese significa vino. Vogliamo portare l’export italiano di vino dal 6% fino al 66% e desidero essere l’ambasciatore dei prodotti italiani – ha aggiunto – perché sono prodotti di qualità”.
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Facebook and Twitter, the largest social media Web sites, have more than 350 million users worldwide, and surveys indicate that 60% of Americans turn first to the Internet when seeking health-related information.1 It is therefore surprising that the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries have been slow to establish a social media presence. The drug industry allocated less than 4% of the more than $4 billion it spent on direct-to-consumer advertising to Internet outlets in 2008, and only a tiny fraction of that was for social networking sites.2 In the next year, however, the proportion may change substantially. Since the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906, control by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over drug labels has been one of its most powerful tools for protecting the public's health. To encourage appropriate use of prescription drugs, the FDA has sought to ensure that promotional statements make claims about approved indications only and neither overstate the benefits nor understate the risks. A major concern has been finding ways to ensure “fair balance,” with adequate attention given to information about risks as well as benefits. When this balance is not achieved, inappropriate promotional statements can contribute to misuse of drugs, with dangerous consequences.
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From
metro
Social media sites such as Facebook could be the key to unlocking new ways of treating and supporting sufferers of long-term illnesses, a study has found. Diabetes or mental health patients could see a huge changes in the way they are treated – even speeding up the process – if their conditions are tracked on a health care websites which mimic online communities like Mumsnet or Facebook.
As patients’ conditions change, clinicians would be able use data collected to treat them more effectively.
The sites could also pave the way for better understanding symptoms over a long period of time. The websites could also see patients communicating with one another to share experiences, support and coping methods. MORE: Here’s what casual cocaine use does to your body Professor Eivor Oborn, of Warwick Business School, said: ‘We found patients can learn to care for themselves and each other in new and better ways through these online communities. ‘Social support and patients’ experience and knowledge can be critical in the management of chronic long-term illnesses.’
he sites could also be used to fast-track people into clinical trials as profiling patients would take just minutes.
Professor Oborn said: ‘Health organisations took almost six months to recruit 250 people by traditional means whereas it took one of these online communities just 48 hours.’ The study, Creating Value in Online Communities, is due to be published in the journal Information Systems Research.
Via Plus91
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Community members who have lived with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) can share their life stories to be included in a book entitled On the Wings of Success.
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Drinking alcohol during pregnancy
Alcohol drunk by the mother crosses the placenta and enters the bloodstream of the unborn baby. Babies in the womb cannot process alcohol in the same way as an adult, and as a result alcohol remains in the baby’s brain and body for several hours after it has been cleared from the mother’s bloodstream. There is strong scientific evidence to show that drinking alcohol in pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, and lifelong problems for the child with learning, behaviour, and health. Although the risk of these problems has been most clearly linked to heavy drinking, it is not yet known whether drinking any amount of alcohol whilst pregnant is truly ‘safe’.
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Presentation for the Youth at Risk Conference, Savannah GA March 2013
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Research tells us clearly that teens and alcohol don’t mix — in fact, medical studies routinely suggest that humans as a whole and alcohol don’t mix. One in ten teens have a regrettable sexual experience related to alcohol consumption. One in five injure themselves while drunk. And the earlier our kids start drinking, the greater the risk of alcohol problems throughout their lives. Then there’s the issue of the way alcohol impacts on brain development. Given the dangers of alcohol, particularly for teenagers, and the regular news stories describing out-of-control teens, it is a good news day when data points to a reduction in teen drinking. The Australian Secondary Students’ Alcohol and Drug Survey highlighted that drinking among 12 to 15 year olds fell from 29 per cent in 2002 to just 11 per cent in 2011 — when asking about past-week consumption. Among the slightly older group of 16 to 17 year olds the numbers also fell sharply, from nearly one in two (48 per cent) to only one in three (33 per cent) who had been drinking in the past week. (It’s worth pointing out that while our alcohol consumption is dropping, youth usage of tobacco and illicit drugs on average is also declining.) Via ReGenUC
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Fetal alcohol specialists say the syndrome has become a hidden epidemic, with the number of children affected now believed to outnumber those diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy.
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BackgroundAlcohol use during pregnancy is the direct cause of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). We aimed to estimate the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy and FAS in the general population and, by linking these two indicators, estimate the number of pregnant women that consumed alcohol during pregnancy per one case of FAS. MethodsWe began by doing two independent comprehensive systematic literature searches using multiple electronic databases for original quantitative studies that reported the prevalence in the general population of the respective country of alcohol use during pregnancy published from Jan 1, 1984, to June 30, 2014, or the prevalence of FAS published from Nov 1, 1973, to June 30, 2015, in a peer-reviewed journal or scholarly report. Each study on the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy was critically appraised using a checklist for observational studies, and each study on the prevalence of FAS was critically appraised by use of a method specifically designed for systematic reviews addressing questions of prevalence. Studies on the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy and/or FAS were omitted if they used a sample population not generalisable to the general population of the respective country, reported a pooled estimate by combining several studies, or were published in iteration. Studies that excluded abstainers were also omitted for the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy. We then did country-specific random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the pooled prevalence of these indicators. For countries with one or no empirical studies, we predicted prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy using fractional response regression modelling and prevalence of FAS using a quotient of the average number of women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy per one case of FAS. We used Monte Carlo simulations to derive confidence intervals for the country-specific point estimates of the prevalence of FAS. We estimated WHO regional and global averages of the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy and FAS, weighted by the number of livebirths per country. The review protocols for the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy (CRD42016033835) and FAS (CRD42016033837) are available on PROSPERO. FindingsOf 23 470 studies identified for the prevalence of alcohol use, 328 studies were retained for systematic review and meta-analysis; the search strategy for the prevalence of FAS yielded 11 110 studies, of which 62 were used in our analysis. The global prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy was estimated to be 9·8% (95% CI 8·9–11·1) and the estimated prevalence of FAS in the general population was 14·6 per 10 000 people (95% CI 9·4–23·3). We also estimated that one in every 67 women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy would deliver a child with FAS, which translates to about 119 000 children born with FAS in the world every year. InterpretationAlcohol use during pregnancy is common in many countries and as such, FAS is a relatively prevalent alcohol-related birth defect. More effective prevention strategies targeting alcohol use during pregnancy and surveillance of FAS are urgently needed.
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Women who drink a large glass of wine each night are harming their chances of having a baby, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that the chance of becoming pregnant within 12 months drops by 18 per cent for those who regularly drink around 240ml of wine a night, the equivalent of a large glass, two bottles or beer, or two shots of spirits. Current NHS guidelines suggest that women should not drink if they are trying to conceive but there has been little evidence to show what level of alcohol makes a difference. If a couple are experiencing difficulty in conceiving, it makes sense for both partners to cut down on their alcohol intakeAnnie Britton, University College London Danish researchers looked at more than 6,000 women aged between 21 and 45 who had tried to get pregnant for a year and matched the result against drinking levels. In women who drank 14 or more servings of alcohol a week – the equivalent of seven large glasses of wine – the chance of conceiving dropped by 18 per cent. It means that one in five women who would otherwise have got pregnant failed to conceive because they drank too much. Lead author Ellen Mikkelsen of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark said: “For many women of reproductive age, alcohol consumption is an integral part of their lifestyle. “In this prospective study of women trying to conceive, consumption of the highest amount of alcohol was associated with an decrease in fecundability compared with no alcohol consumption.”
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Social Media and Healthcare By: Charles Cho, Roger Tovar, Amanda Romano, Kwan, Ashley Cho, Rachel Romansik Via Plus91
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Life insurance policies are designed to pay a death benefit when someone dies, but there are usually two basic categories of policies to meet your different needs — term and permanent.
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Stigma can influence the prevention and identification of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a leading cause of developmental delay in North America. Understanding the effects of public health practices and policies on stigma is imperative. We reviewed social science and biomedical literatures to understand the nature of stigma in FASD and its relevance from an ethics standpoint in matters of health practices and policies (e.g., diagnostic practices, awareness campaigns). We propose (i) a descriptive model of stigma in FASD and note current knowledge gaps; (ii) discuss the ethical implications of stigma based on two distinct criteria (dignity and consequences); and (iii) describe two cases and the concerns associated with inadvertent stigmatization by public health initiatives for FASD. We recommend further empirical and ethical analyses to examine whether public health policies and practices inadvertently stigmatize and impact the success of public health initiatives and programs for FASD.
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One of the unique features of prenatal alcohol exposure in humans is impaired cognitive and behavioral function resulting from damage to the central nervous system (CNS), which leads to a spectrum of impairments referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Human FASD phenotypes can be reproduced in the rodent CNS following prenatal ethanol exposure. Several mechanisms are expected to contribute to the detrimental effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the developing fetus, particularly in the developing CNS. These mechanisms may act simultaneously or consecutively and differ among a variety of cell types at specific developmental stages in particular brain regions. Studies have identified numerous potential mechanisms through which alcohol can act on the fetus. Among these mechanisms are increased oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, interference with the activity of growth factors, glia cells, cell adhesion molecules, gene expression during CNS development and impaired function of signaling molecules involved in neuronal communication and circuit formation. These alcohol-induced deficits result in long-lasting abnormalities in neuronal plasticity and learning and memory and can explain many of the neurobehavioral abnormalities found in FASD. In this review, the author discusses the mechanisms that are associated with FASD and provides a current status on the endocannabinoid system in the development of FASD.
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Prenatal alcohol exposure is the leading identifiable cause of intellectual disability in the Western world and may result in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Individuals with FASD have a higher risk of being involved in the legal system, either as offenders or as victims. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to estimate the direct cost for youths (12–17 years old) and adults (18 + years old) with FASD to the Canadian correctional system in 2011/2012. The prevalence of FASD in the Canadian correctional system, obtained from the current epidemiological literature, was applied to the average number of youths and adults in the correctional system in 2011/2012. The average daily cost for corrections was then applied to the estimated number of youths and adults with FASD in custody. The cost of corrections among youths with FASD in Canada in 2011/2012 was calculated to be approximately $17.5 M Canadian dollars (CND; $13.6 M CND for males and $3.8 M CND for females) and among adults with FASD was estimated to be about $356.2 M CND ($140 M CND for provincial and territorial custody and $216.2 M CND for federal custody). The study findings emphasize the need to raise awareness regarding the prevalence of FASD in the correctional system. It is crucial to incorporate FASD screening and intervention strategies as early as possible in the criminal justice process.
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Excessive alcohol use* is risk factor for a wide range of health and social problems including liver cirrhosis, certain cancers, depression, motor vehicle crashes, and violence (1). Alcohol use during pregnancy can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) and other adverse birth outcomes (1). Community studies estimate that as many as 2% to 5% of first grade students in the United States might have an FASD, which include physical, behavioral, or learning impairments (2). In 2005, the Surgeon General reissued an advisory† urging women who are or might be pregnant§ to abstain from alcohol consumption to eliminate the risk for FASDs or other negative birth outcomes. To estimate current prevalences of any alcohol use and binge drinking (consuming four or more drinks on an occasion) among pregnant and nonpregnant women aged 18–44 years in the United States, CDC analyzed 2011–2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. Among pregnant women, the prevalences of any alcohol use and binge drinking in the past 30 days were 10.2% and 3.1%, respectively. Among nonpregnant women, the prevalences of any alcohol use and binge drinking in the past 30 days were 53.6% and 18.2%, respectively. Among binge drinkers, pregnant women reported a significantly higher frequency of binge drinking than nonpregnant women (4.6 and 3.1 episodes, respectively); the largest amount consumed during binge drinking was also higher among pregnant women than nonpregnant women (7.5 versus 6.0 drinks), although this difference was not statistically significant. Implementation of evidence-based clinical and community-level strategies would be expected to reduce binge drinking among pregnant women and women of childbearing age, and any alcohol consumption among women who are or might be pregnant. Healthcare professionals can support these efforts by implementing alcohol screening and brief interventions in their primary care practices, and informing women that there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption when they are pregnant or might be pregnant (3)
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47 years, that’s how long it took until R.J. Formanek officially received his diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Things haven’t always been smooth for R.J. I can only imagine what it must have been like living with organic brain damage and not even knowing it. Despite all the struggles that go along with having a little known, invisible physical disability, R.J. is proof that with the right team and the right environment you can be a successful adult living with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder… and by all accounts R.J. is certainly that. I connected with R.J. via Skype. Check out the interview below.
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The consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure were first described more than 40 years ago.1,2 The term “fetal alcohol syndrome” (FAS) was first used to describe the cluster of birth defects due to prenatal alcohol exposure (including growth restriction, craniofacial abnormalities and intellectual disabilities) with lifetime consequences.2 The term “fetal alcohol spectrum disorder” (FASD) has since been adopted to describe a broader spectrum of presentations and disabilities resulting from alcohol exposure in utero. The prevalence has been estimated at 1 in 100 people, which translates to more than 330 000 affected individuals in Canada.
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