Author: GuidaBrown
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Heart Disease vs Addiction: A Call for Change
I was reading my favorite entertainment weekly, Happenings Magazine, and saw a news brief that indicates that 99% of heart attacks and strokes are linked to “modifiable” risks. I HAD to dive deeper. What I found is that 99% of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure cases are linked to preventable risk factors (Medical). Weird.…
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The Truth About CDL Alcohol and Other Drug Testing
Holders of Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) are arguably the most important drivers on our roads. They are the ones who help us get any item we want, short of raising it ourselves, and they are the ones driving the largest and therefore the most dangerous vehicles on our roadways. You may be surprised by the…
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FASD Respect Act: A Historic Win for Advocacy in 2025
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Month 2025 will be one that goes down in history. This is the year that FASD Respect Act language is thisclose to being enacted by Congress. For the first time in twenty years, federal programs to address FASDs are moving towards being reauthorized, marking a renewed commitment to FASD-informed supports across…
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The Stigma of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Explained
Not every incidence of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) results in a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASDs). How can we get funders to understand this and reduce the stigma?
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FASD Awareness: Analyzing ‘Princess Margaret and the Curse’
I was so excited to read this new book, Princess Margaret and the Curse by Meryle Secrest, that asks us to consider whether Princess Margaret had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. It came out on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day, which is the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, in a…
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Understanding FASD: Awareness Month Insights
It’s the first week of FASD Awareness Month, but not enough people know that. In fact, too few know that FASD stands for “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” and that no one in the US has FASD. Rather, they have AN FASD, because FASD is an umbrella term for the birth defects caused by prenatal alcohol…
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Understanding Drug Testing: A Tool for Informed Decisions
Drug testing has gotten a bad rap, but it’s not the TESTS that are bad. It’s how the results are being used. And we – the people who work in the field of substance use disorders – are the reason they are used inappropriately and why the message isn’t getting out. A Google search explains…
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How Drug Testing Can Uncover Hidden Addictions
I’ve written several times about the Marty Mann Test for Addiction, and I’m a firm believer that it works. (You can find a link in the references below.) But how do we get people to try it? And, when they won’t, how do they realize that they really do have addiction? I had a colleague…
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Embracing Moderation: A Path to Healthier Lifestyles
“We are a society of ‘If one piece of cake is good, two are better.’” A judge in Kenosha County (Wisconsin) made this statement to me…and she’s absolutely correct. We know that we shouldn’t actually eat two pieces of cake in one sitting, but we want to, and society says that’s better. Just like everything…
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Alcohol During Pregnancy: Understanding Risks and Misconceptions
In the past week, two different studies came out about prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). One, the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), surveyed more than 1,600 adults in the United States regarding maternal health (eurekalert). The other, published in the Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research (Hoboken), surveyed more than 1,500 women in the United Kingdom, then had them…
Guided by Guida 