Tag: FASD
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The Dangers of Ignoring Addiction Facts
If you’re looking for me, I’m over here banging my head on my desk. Why, you ask? I’m happy to explain! In the last week I’ve been discouraged at every turn where it comes to my expertise around substance use disorders. First, a person who may or may not have been pregnant was drinking wine.…
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We CAN Mitigate FASDs
One of the conditions that Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) may be mistaken for is Williams Syndrome. In general, it looks the same, the behaviors are the same, and the outcomes are the same. However, Williams Syndrome is typically diagnosed by the time a child is 3½, and FAS is, well, typically not ever diagnosed. Regarding…
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Krabbe? Cancer? FASD?
We’re talking about screening for a lifelong condition that can’t be cured that conservatively affects 5% of the population…1 in 20 live births!
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FASDs: Just Because We Don’t See Them Doesn’t Mean They’re Not There
Doctors can’t do it themselves. They need all of our help to educate about the harmful effects of PAE and diagnose FASDs.
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Silos Help No One
When NARCAN first started being supplied due to grant dollars, there was a lot of pushback about it. “Why should insulin be so expensive and NARCAN be free?” The truth is that NARCAN isn’t free; it’s paid for by our tax dollars, so that question should be “Why do we provide NARCAN but not insulin…
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FASDs in Corrections: We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know
Determining whether someone has a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – which in itself is not diagnosable – has proven to be difficult, at best. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, or FASDs, is the umbrella term describing the range of adverse effects that can occur in an individual due to prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). The diagnoses, per…
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Knowledge Is Power, and More Is Readily Available through Neonate Screening for Drugs of Abuse
Every single baby born in the US is required to be screened for phenylketonuria (PKU), which is “a rare condition in which a baby is born without the ability to properly break down an amino acid called phenylalanine” (Medline). Annually in the US, 1 in every 10,000 to 15,000 babies born is diagnosed with PKU…
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Luck or Fate? Do I Have an FASD?
This blog has been edited from the original. Last week I had the privilege of traveling to Washington, DC, to be part of FASD United’s Impact Week. I met a fellow Wisconsinite, and we started devising a plan for more advocacy in our state; I met with an aide from my Congressman’s office to discuss…
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Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Fifty Years Later
September is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month, which was identified FIFTY years ago, and FASD United, the “National Voice [in the US] on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” has asked that we take each week of the month to actively participate in bringing awareness about FASDs to others. (FASDUnited.org) Week one was to be…
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Bias Against Babies
Bias is defined as “prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.” This topic comes up often regarding testing pregnant patients for misuse of drugs. For example, in April 2023, JAMA reported that “Black patients, regardless of history of substance use,…
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