35th Annual Alcohol Epidemiology Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society (KBS 2009) in Copenhagen, June 1-5, 2009

The primary purpose of the conference is to provide a forum where researchers involved in studies on alcohol can exchange ideas about their ongoing research. The scope of the symposium includes studies of determinants and consequences of drinking, drinking practices, attitudes and the social and institutional responses to drinking related harms. Empirical research, theoretical papers and reviews of the literature are welcome. Epidemiology is broadly construed and includes research in a variety of disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, criminology, economics, history and other disciplines.

Läs mer >>>

______________________________________________

Binge drinking comes to France

Until a few years ago, many French people were convinced that their cafe society and laissez-faire approach to alcohol made them immune to binge drinking.
But times, and drinking habits, have changed. The government recognises the problem and plans to raise the legal age for buying alcohol from 16 to 18 next year.
In some parts of Paris, municipal authorities have already targeted teenage drunkenness by declaring "dry areas" where drinking on the streets is banned at night.

Läs mer >>>

_____________________________________________

Moms-to-Be Who Drink May Damage Fetus' White Matter

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can damage white matter in a fetus' frontal and occipital lobes, which play a major role in executive function and visual processing. The finding may help explain problems seen in infants whose mothers drink during pregnancy, a new study says.
"The brain's white matter is made up of nerve bundles that transfer information between brain regions," study corresponding author Susanna L. Fryer, a researcher at San Diego State University's Center for Behavioral Teratology, said in a news release.

Läs mer >>>

________________________________________________

Published Reports Inaccurate Concerning Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy

A national alcohol research group is concerned that the media's misinterpretation of a recent British research study could encourage pregnant women to be more at ease with temperate alcohol consumption.
Some media reports erroneously stated that the study by The University College London researchers revealed that light drinking by pregnant women could be beneficial to their babies. Other articles said light drinking during pregnancy would not affect the behavior or mental acuity of babies born to drinking mothers.

Läs mer >>>

________________________________________________

The Fatal Link - The Connection Between School Shooters and the Brain Damage from Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol

Jody Allen Crowe presents a compelling look at the silent epidemic of prenatal exposure to alcohol and the undeniable connection to school shooters. He was an elementary student in 1966 when, in his hometown high school, David Black became the first adolescent school shooter in the nation. Memories of that day stayed with the author throughout his career as an educator on reservations across the nation. When the Red Lake High School became the scene of a school shooting in 2005, Crowe was uniquely positioned to see the similarities between his hometown shooter and the Red Lake shooter, as well as the evidence of brain damage from prenatal exposure to alcohol in both cases. The Fatal Link provides a glimpse into Crowe’s twenty years of experience with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and reveals the connection between school shooters and their mother’s drinking patterns.

Läs mer >>>

_______________________________________________

Apoptosis Inhibitors Prevent Not Only Cell Death, But Also Play A Role In Cell Migration

One of the defining characteristics of cancer cells is that they systematically prevent programmed cell death (apoptosis), with which the body guards itself against the proliferation of defective cells. In order to do this, they express so-called apoptosis inhibitors (IAPs) among other proteins. Many of the cancer drugs currently undergoing clinical trials target IAPs, since if the levels of IAPs are reduced, tumour cells will be destroyed by the body's own self-protecting mechanism or by the chemotherapeutic drugs. However, as a research group from the Goethe University in Frankfurt, working with scientists at the Universities of Würzburg and Philadelphia have recently discovered, IAPs also have another life: they control cell migration.

Läs mer >>>

________________________________________________

How Mental Health Care Affects Outcomes For Foster Children

A new study co-written by Jung Min Park and Joseph P. Ryan, professors in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois, followed 5,978 children in foster care in Illinois for several years to determine whether these children’s placement and permanency outcomes were affected by their histories of intensive mental health treatment. The statewide sample included all children and adolescents 3-18 years of age who entered foster care for the first time between 1997 and 2001. They were observed through June 2005.

Läs mer >>>

Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on hippocampal volume, verbal learning, and verbal and spatial recall in late childhood

Results revealed smaller left hippocampi and poorer verbal learning and verbal and spatial recall performance in children with FASDs than controls, as well as positive correlations between selective memory indices and hippocampal volumes only in the FASD group. Additionally, hippocampal volumes increased significantly with age in controls only, suggesting that PAE may be associated with long-term abnormalities in hippocampal development that may contribute to impaired verbal learning and verbal and spatial recall.


Läs mer >>>

_______________________________________________

Even moderate drinking in pregnancy harmful

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children born to women who have as little as one drink a week during pregnancy are more likely to have symptoms of behavior problems as teens, according to research published this month in the journal Pediatrics. To better understand the independent role of alcohol exposure in pregnancy, Disney and her colleagues looked at 1,252 17-year-olds enrolled in the Minnesota Twins Family Study and their parents.

Läs mer >>>

________________________________________________