Ruminations

Abstain -- Completely

"When a mother-to-be consumes alcohol, it goes directly to the fetus through her bloodstream. Alcohol is poisonous to the developing fetus and can disrupt its normal development. FASD [Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder] is a serious and lifelong condition."
"Alcohol is especially dangerous for the developing brain cells; that's why people with FASD have difficulties with learning, attention, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, language and communication."
"The first step in understanding the severity and impact of FASD in any country is to determine how many people have this condition. Once this information is available, policies and programs can be planned that will benefit those living with FASD and prevent additional children from being born with these conditions."
"Public policy and clinical care for people with FASD needs to change to respond to such predictable outcomes."
Svetlana Popova, senior scientist, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto

A new study on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder whose lead author is Dr. Popova has been published in the medical journal Addiction. According to the study, close to one in ten women in any general population worldwide consume some level of alcohol during their pregnancy. The result of which is that Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is quite a bit more prevalent than has been assumed. In particular among people belonging to five vulnerable groups.

What is incontestable is the conclusion on the evidence that women who believe they can have a glass of wine during dinner throughout pregnancy are wrong. It is a myth that simply does not want to succumb to scientific evidence proving otherwise. The global study with its fluctuating prevalence rates of FASD, declares that belief to be nothing more or less than a wishful myth.

When a pregnant woman drinks any amount of alcohol during pregnancy she is flirting with genetic abnormality for her offspring. FASD is identified as a disabling condition caused by a mother's alcohol consumption during pregnancy, a kind of Russian roulette that will affect some children born to drinking mothers, and not others; afflicting some children relatively lightly and others intensely.

FASD is an affliction that is not particularly choosy; it will affect people from all racial, ethnic and sociological backgrounds indiscriminately. Data derived from 69 previously-published studies of people from 17 countries including Canada, the United States, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, indicate prevalence rates are most particularly devastating for sub-population groups.

The five high-prevalence groups identified in the study are:

Children in care;
People in correctional service custody;
People in special education services;
People using specialized services for developmental disabilities or psychiatric care;
Indigenous populations.

The purpose of the study's design was to assist in improved prevalence estimates and predictions hoping to to produce more useful and practical public policy and to permit for planning and budgeting of health care, community and social services response of a higher order.

Over 400 disease conditions might be associated with fetal alcohol exposure, according to Dr. Popova and her research team. Those conditions include impaired vision and hearing, heart problems, urinary and respiratory defects and problems with joints. The annual cost estimate of FASD in Canada alone has been identified at $1.8-billion.

"There is no safe amount of alcohol or safe type of alcohol or safe time to drink during pregnancy.” Getty Images

As a result of misfortune and circumstances which would be inclusive of parental alcohol or drug problems, abuse, neglect or youthful age at marriage, all circumstances associated with an increased likelihood of an unborn child exposed to alcohol, children are often placed in care, their parents unable to cope with their needs.

Lacking appropriate diagnoses and early life intervention, many children with FASD become high risk for involvement in the legal system, according to research findings. People with FASD are likelier to suffer from developmental delay, learning problems and mental-health problems. As a result they have a higher representation among special education populations.

Among Aboriginal populations the problem of high FASD prevalence has long been realized in tandem with the reality that alcohol use during pregnancy among Aboriginals in Canada is found to be roughly four times greater, in comparison to the general population.