Alcohol use during pregnancy is a significant public health problem. Although most women who drink before pregnancy substantially reduce their consumption or completely stop drinking once they become pregnant, approximately 14 to 22.5 percent of women report drinking some alcohol during pregnancy (Bearer 2001). The costs of prenatal alcohol use are high. Risky drinking (defined as more than sev...

KAREN HYMBAUGH,* LISA A. MILLER, CHARLOTTE M. DRUSCHEL, DANISE W. PODVIN, F. JOHN MEANEY, COLEEN A. BOYLE, AND THE FASSNET TEAM 6 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Atlanta, Georgia 30345 Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, Colorado 80246 New York State Department of Health, Congenital Malf...

Genes for two enzymes of the tetrahydromethanopterin-linked C(1) transfer pathway (fae and fhcD) were detected in hypersaline, hyperalkaline Mono Lake (California), via PCR amplification and analysis. Low diversity for fae and fhcD was noted, in contrast to the diversity previously detected in a freshwater lake, Lake Washington (Washington).

The brains of fetal alcohol syndrome patients exhibit impaired neuronal migration, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying this abnormality. Here we show that Ca2+ signaling and cyclic nucleotide signaling are the central targets of alcohol action in neuronal cell migration. Acute administration of ethanol reduced the frequency of transient Ca2+ elevations in migrating neurons and c...

Verbal Learning deficits have been reported following prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). This study examined verbal and visual multitrial learning in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or fetal alcohol effects (FAE) and controls matched on age and gender from the same community. In this study, the FAS/FAE group’s immediate memory on the Verbal Learning and Visual Learning tasks from the W...

The role of alcohol in the causation of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) has been firmly established. In most cases events leading to its occurrence have been set into motion prior to conception. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy, the sole causative agent of FAS, can therefore be prevented even prior to conception by implementation of preconception counseling (PCC). The present review examines t...

Maternal consumption of alcohol (ethanol) during pregnancy [5] can inhibit prenatal growth, resulting in fetuses that are small for gestational age. Those prenatal growth deficiencies can have lasting consequences for early childhood development and are often reflected by low weight and stature. Those alcohol-induced preand post-natal growth deficiencies (failure to thrive) are among the abnorm...

Maternal consumption of alcohol (ethanol) during pregnancy [5] can inhibit prenatal growth, resulting in fetuses that are small for gestational age. Those prenatal growth deficiencies can have lasting consequences for early childhood development and are often reflected by low weight and stature. Those alcohol-induced preand post-natal growth deficiencies (failure to thrive) are among the abnorm...

Maternal consumption of alcohol (ethanol) during pregnancy [5] can inhibit prenatal growth, resulting in fetuses that are small for gestational age. Those prenatal growth deficiencies can have lasting consequences for early childhood development and are often reflected by low weight and stature. Those alcohol-induced preand post-natal growth deficiencies (failure to thrive) are among the abnorm...