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Treating Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
The effects of fetal alcohol exposure may be more profound than researchers hoped. Results of a new study reveal the prenatal damage to peptides in the fetal brain may endure into adulthood despite environmental enrichment provided in a child’s early years.
Neurotrophins — a family of peptides produced in the nervous system — are critical for normal development of the brain. Research has shown prenatal alcohol exposure may be particularly destructive for neurotrophins, with effects lasting into adulthood.
“Neurotrophins also play important roles in learning and memory, and contribute to the repair of the brain following injury or stress,” study author Robert F. Berman, Ph.D., a professor in the department of neurological surgery at the University of California — Davis, was quoted as saying.
Dr. Berman said treatment of other types of brain injury with environmental enrichment therapy could be beneficial. However, new research in rats suggests the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and environmental rearing conditions on neurotrophin levels are largely independent.
“In this study, we found that being raised in an enriched environment, with ample opportunities for motor and sensory stimulation, and social interactions, unexpectedly resulted in reduced levels of neurotrophins in some areas of the cortex, but not in other areas which are well known to be affected by prenatal alcohol exposure,” Dr. Berman said.
He went on to say additional research is needed to devise better treatment strategies for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
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SOURCE: To be published in the October 2008 edition of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
Adelaide cabbie Avel Aretas reveals in this graphic account our city’s binge drinking nightmare: Adelaide is the Festival City, but there is one event we should not be proud of – the Adelaide Binge Drinking Festival. It is held every Friday and Saturday night and doesn’t discriminate, involving everyone from 12-year-olds to 60-year-olds, from the….
An Associated Press analysis of federal records found that 157 college-age people, 18 to 23, drank themselves to death from 1999 through 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available. Over the seven-year span, 83 of the college-age victims were under the drinking age of 21. A separate AP analysis of hundreds of….
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Many factors should be considered before choosing a center for substance abuse treatment. Cost isn’t the only important factor, location and level of care also matter. The best treatment centers for substance abuse will vary from one patient to the next based on individual needs. When you decide to seek help, for yourself or a….
A study by researchers in Europe has revealed why some heavy drinkers develop mouth and throat cancers while others do not and also why some people get drunk quickly. The answer it seems is genetic – as two gene variants appear to offer “significant” protection against mouth and throat cancers. The team of researchers led….
