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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.
Local and national studies show that some young people are reporting taking their first drink at the age of 11. In Auburn, 5 percent of seventh graders have already used alcohol in the last month, according to an Auburn City Schools survey. By ninth grade, that number rises to 15 percent, and by 12th grade….
A recent survey found that the number of people who have entered treatment for addiction to benzos such as Valium and Xanax as well as narcotic painkillers such as Oxycodone has increased more than 500% in the past ten years. The overall increase in substance abuse treatment admissions during this period of time was just….
A new study of young adults in nine European countries found that nearly one in four women and one in three men deliberately engage in binge drinking and drug use to improve their chances of sex. The study also found that young people were more at risk of unsafe sex while under the influence of….
Faith-based organizations continue to meet vital social needs within communities across the country. According to the Manhattan Institute, faith-based organizations contribute an estimated $20 billion in private funding to social service agencies on an annual basis. With alcoholism a continuing social problem within the U.S., Christian alcohol treatment centers offer a multi-faceted treatment approach to….
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….
