Alcohol Health & Research World articles from January 1994

Alcohol Health & Research World archives from January 1994

Clinical recognition of FAS: difficulties of detection and diagnosis. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Verifying the diagnosis of FAS in a specific patient is often difficult. Future diagnostic aids may include weighted checklists, laboratory and imaging studies, and psychological profiles. Until about 20 years ago, the dangers of maternal...

Animal research: charting the course for FAS. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Animal models of FAS have allowed researchers to study the mechanisms behind alcohol's deleterious effects on fetal development. Such models have helped verify hypotheses based on studies of children with FAS and uncover new features of FAS...

Cellular and molecular bases of alcohol's teratogenic effects. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Research on the nutritional, hormonal, and cellular events regulating fetal development may help guide early interventions in children with FAS. The condition known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) was first described in the late 1960's....

Critical periods for prenatal alcohol exposure: evidence from animal and human studies. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes glossary and bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Birth defects associated with FAS can vary, depending on when during gestation the fetus is exposed and how long the exposure continues. Although defects such as craniofacial abnormalities have been clearly associated with exposure early in...

Prenatal alcohol exposure and neurobehavioral development: where is the threshold? (fetal alcohol syndrome and its impact on brain development; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... In terms of prenatal alcohol-induced alterations in neurobehavioral outcomes such as attention, activity level, and information-processing speed, a threshold of alcohol consumption may be difficult to determine. Studies on humans indicate...

Effects of paternal exposure to alcohol on offspring development: paternal alcohol consumption may affect fetal development through a direct effect on the father's sperm or gonads. (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Paternal alcohol consumption may affect fetal development through a direct effect on the father's sperm or gonads. This possibility casts new light on the heritability of alcoholism in humans. The adverse consequences of maternal alcohol...

Comparative teratogenicity of alcohol and other drugs: prenatal exposure to alcohol or other drugs can impair physical, intellectual, and behavioral development. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Prenatal exposure to alcohol or other drugs can impair physical, intellectual, and behavioral development. An understanding of how these drugs act and interact with one another and with lifestyle factors is necessary to plan effective...

MRI and prenatal alcohol exposure: images provide insight into FAS. (magnetic resonance imaging as a way to detect fetal alcohol syndrome; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Magnetic resonance imaging reveals brain abnormalities in some children exposed prenatally to alcohol Researchers have begun to associate specific abnormalities with features such as memory deficits that are exhibited by these children. ...

The economic cost of FAS. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes estimates of costs to US society in the 1980s based upon incidences per 1,000 births; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Estimates of the total cost of FAS are highly dependent on factors such as incidence rates for the disorder. Estimates of the lifetime costs involved with a single case of FAS may be more valuable. Several studies (Abel and Sokol 1987,...

New assessment tools for risk drinking during pregnancy: T-ACE, TWEAK, and others. (tests for factors that lead to fetal alcohol syndrome; includes definition of risk drinking and bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Effective screening of pregnant women for drinking that puts the fetus at risk for developing fetal alcohol syndrome is an essential part of prenatal care. Screening tools such as questionnaires have demonstrated varying degrees of accuracy...

FAS prevention strategies: passive and active measures. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... FAS prevention programs attempt to reduce the incidence of drinking during pregnancy by educating women about the risks of alcohol to their unborn babies. Alcoholic beverage warning labels reach a wide audience and have had some effect on...

Intervention and the child with FAS. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes related article on preparing children for school and other situations requiring interaction; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Although the research is sparse, it appears that specific interventions may help children with FAS better overcome their cognitive and behavioral problems. Special strategies such as consistency, a structured environment, and attention to...

A long-term perspective of FAS. (fetal alcohol syndrome in adolescents; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Few people in their adolescent or adult years are diagnosed as having FAS. Studies have shown that most FAS patients outgrow the characteristic FAS facies after puberty. However, they may still suffer from mental handicaps and have poor...

Tracking the prevalence of FAS. (fetal alcohol syndrome; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Surveillance programs allow the tracking of the prevalence of a condition over time. Tracking the prevalence of FAS poses particular problems, however, as there is no "gold standard" of diagnosis. To evaluate the effectiveness of prevention...

Knowledge of FAS and the risks of heavy drinking during pregnancy, 1985 and 1990. (results of fetal alcohol syndrome surveys to determine awareness levels in pregnant women and fathers-to-be who drink; includes bibliography) (Special Issue: Alcohol-Related Birth Defects)
January 1, 1994... Reducing the incidence of FAS to no more than 0. 12 per 1, 000 live births is a stated objective of the national agenda in Healthy People 2000. One step toward attaining this is by ensuring that al prospective mothers know what FAS is....