Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
One of the leading causes of mental retardation in the United States is fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS. Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance by pregnant women because it's legal and socially acceptable. A greater majority of young women are not aware of the complications that are involved with pregnancy. They see pregnancy as a way of bringing a life into the world but do not use the necessary safety measure in their dietary habits to prevent such damage or inhibitions of such a life. By continuing on their drinking binge throughout their pregnancy, they can cause an inexplicable damage to herself and the fetus she is carrying. In my opinion, any amount of alcohol combined with pregnancy can cause devastating effects to the fetus.
"Neurobehavioral deficits have been found in infants whose mothers reported fewer than seven standard drinks a week, and the effects of drinking in early pregnancy (the first trimester) are among the more severe of alcohol's effects on the fetus, causing irreversible facial malformations and neurological damage" (Kaskutas & Graves, 2001). Lee Ann Kaskutas and Karen Graves believes that the precision of measurement of how much a woman drinks throughout pregnancy is very important to the assessment of fetal risk (2001). The title of their study, "Pre-pregnancy drinking: How drink size affects risk assessment", can help us conclude that the independent variables are the drink sizes and the dependent variable is the risk assessment.
From the introduction section, I have learned that in the United States, American Indians and African Americans are at the highest risk for FAS. Even though there have been advances in research methodology, people can have a misconception on the concept of what is a standard drink. When asked how much they drank on previous surveys, previous participants had a misconception on the drink sizes. "This has implications for FAS risk assessment, as underestimates of alcohol consumptions could lead researchers to conclude that increasingly lower safe thresholds of consumption are called for" (Kaskutas & Graves, 2001). The authors found that half of the subjects under study have underestimated the amount of alcohol in their various drinks. The authors believed that most women ...
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...ance on standard drinks results in considerable underestimation of alcohol consumption, especially among the heavier drinkers and those consuming higher alcohol content beverages" (Kaskutas & Graves, 2001). It is concluded in this research that standard drink sizes assume a much smaller size than self-defined drink sizes. The authors did note that this study has several limitations. First, their sample included only few white subjects with no Hispanics, Asians and other ethnic groups. Also, "the vessels methodology should be used with expanded samples to determine whether large drink sizes are represented among other groups of pregnant women" (Kaskutas & Graves, 2001). Future research could include specifications of standard drink size for different types of alcohol when assessing risk for FAS. "Consideration of drink size represents a promising avenue both for alcohol research and for alcohol prevention and education, with pregnant women and more broadly with the general population" (Kaskutas & Graves, 2001).
Reference
Kaskutas, L.A., Graves, K. (2001). Pre-pregnancy: How drink sizes affects risk assessment. Addiction, Vol 96(8), 1199-1209.
Davis, PM, TL Carr, and CB La. "Needs assessment and current practice of alcohol risk assessment of pregnant women and women of childbearing age by primary health care professionals.."Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 15.2 (2008): 214-222.Pubmed.gov. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Have you ever experienced distress or misery? The poem, The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe describes the experience of a young man who has lost, Lenore, a woman whom he deeply loved. After this traumatic loss, the narrator encounters a raven that offers insight into his forlorn feelings of sorrow and loneliness. The author’s use of imagery, word choice, and figurative language is used effectively in this popular literary work to convey the theme of a lingering, inconsolable grief.
“The Raven” is a magnificent piece by a very well known poet from the 19th century, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was well known for his dark and haunting poetry. Along with writing poetry, Poe was also recognized for his Gothic-style short stories. “The Raven” is one of Poe’s greatest accomplishments and was even turned into recitals and numerous television appearances. “The Raven” tells a story about an unnamed narrator whose beloved Lenore has left him. A raven comes at different points throughout the poem and tells the narrator that he and his lover are “Nevermore.” Poe presents the downfall of the narrator’s mind through the raven and many chilling events. By thorough review and studying of Edgar Allan Poe’s work, one can fully understand the single effect, theme, and repetition in “The Raven.”
The results of the study by Dale, Bakketeig, and Per Magnus (2016) regarding alcohol consumption among first-time mothers and its effects on preterm birth do not indicate a clear risk reduction for drinking during pregnancy. The surveys issued at gestational week 15 received a 94.9% response rate, with a sample size of 101,769 for the questionnaire and 108,327 from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRM). Collected data was narrowed to a total of 46,252 participants who met the criteria of primiparous women with singleton pregnancies who delivered between week 22 and 43 of gestation. In this study, the incidence of preterm birth was 5.9%, or 2,729 out of 46,252 births, with a median length of gestation of 40 weeks and mean of 39.47 weeks for both drinkers and nondrinkers during pregnancy (SD = 2.03). For prepregnacy drinkers, the mean pregnancy length was 39.48 weeks (SD = 2.02) (Dale et al., 2016).
“Can I consume even a miniscule amount of alcohol?” a common, yet preposterous question asked by numerous pregnant women. The common answer given by doctors is yes, you may. Many women don’t know, but according to nofas.org, women who drink as little as two glasses of wine per day can adversely affect their offspring’s effectiveness at school. According to the Institute of Medicine 1996, “Of all the substances of abuse (including heroin, cocaine,and marijuana), alcohol by far produces the most neurobehavioral effects in the fetus”. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a possible outcome of drinking while pregnant. This horrid disease can cause aberrant facial characteristics, growth deficits, brain damage that results in mental retardation, hyperactivity,
Alcohol (wine, beer, or liquor) is the leading known preventable cause of developmental and physical birth defects in the United States. When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, she risks giving birth to a child who will pay the price, in mental and physical deficiencies, for his or her entire life. One study (Phyllis Trujillo Lewis, MA, Philip A. May, PhD, and Virginia C. Shipman, PhD, 2007) asserted that “Numerous studies on alcohol-related birth defects have concluded that maternal drinking, compounded by other risk factors, leads to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). FAS is a serious birth defect and the most common non-genetic cause of mental retardation” as said by (Hankin, 2002; Abel & Sokol,1986; O’Connor, Kogan, & Findlay, 2002; May & Gossage, in press). It is unknown how much maternal alcohol consumption results in FAS or other related disorders, or why some women who drink are at substantially higher risk of giving birth to a child with alcohol-related disabilities than others (Stratton, Howe, & Battaglia, 1996). However, researchers have identified several maternal risk factors differentially associated with FAS. These include advanced maternal age, number of pregnancies, previous births of a child with FAS, cohabitation with a male partner who drinks heavily, and low socioeconomic status (SES; May et al. 2004; 2008a; Viljoen et al., 2002). FAS is 100% preventable, which makes awareness and education the core preventative method for FAS. It is seen through Lewis, May & Shipman’s research that women who are less educated are less aware of the risks involved with drinking while pregnant.
...mester is very important to not drink it can affect a lot of issues for the baby such as miscarriage. A still birth is also an effect from drinking the baby can be considered bad to the body if the entire toxin from the alcohol gets to the baby and the body will consider it bad. Fetal alcohol syndrome is the most common syndrome in the u.s now it can cause stubbornness and anger issues down the line. Birth weight, is not a big main concern as much as the others. Until the baby is born less than 5lbs it’s a problem. Preterm labor there is a lot of symptom that can pop up before you get that far to prevent preterm labor. The longer the baby is inside the better. Lastly brain damage is heart breaking. The brain is very sensitive to all those toxic put into the mother body that it can eat the baby brain up. It will cause a lot of problems for the baby in the long run.
When it comes to pregnancy, expectant mothers usually have a lot of questions and concerns. One such concern is alcohol consumption. Some people feel that it is okay while others are against the consumption. However those who drink take a huge risk that can result in what is referred to as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). This umbrella term is used to describe the range of damage from alcohol exposure to a fetus. The characteristics, diagnosis, and the mother are all important factors to look at when trying to understand these birth defects.
Substance abuse is a problem that exist all over the world, it’s affecting men, women, and children from all society level. Prenatal substance abuse remains a major problem in the United States and poses important health risk for a growing baby (Behnke & Smith, 2013). Treatment 4 addiction (T4a) mentioned approximately 2 to 3% of birth deficiency are the consequences of using other drugs than alcohol. Drug and alcohol or any other substances are recognized to have dangerous effect on the fetus. All drugs that that cross the placenta have somehow affected the fetus (Behnke & Smith, 2013).
Multiple studies have found that FAS is the single most common cause of mental retardation that is completely preventable. When alcohol is consumed during pregnancy it acts as a teratogen, which means it is a substance that interferes with growth and development, and is capable of causing birth defects such as hearing loss, vision loss, reduced cognitive ability, and motor skill deficiencies. Flattened mid-face, short nose and a thinner upper lip are also common physical abnormalities (Tangient LLC, 2014). When consumed, alcohol from the mother’s bloodstream crosses easily into the fetal bloodstream. Because of their size, the unborn baby has a lower capability to metabolize the alcohol, thus it remains in its system for a longer period of time and can result in...
...g pregnancy. Children born to heavy drinkers were more likely to exhibit problems (Kelly, et al., 2008).
“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!” A child has most likely heard that phrase at some point in their life. Although, it is not ethical or legal for a mother to “take her kid out of this world”, it does bring up a good point that it was through her body, that the child was born. One of the most important responsibilities in this world is a mother carrying a child in the womb. There are many divine processes that take place during gestation, but there are also many contributing factors from the mother that can affect the developing human. These factors may include what a woman ingests and exposes her embryo or fetus to. Sadly, alcohol use during pregnancy is an ongoing problem that can have detrimental affects on the fetus, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Choosing to drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy is a choice, a risky choice. Unfortunately some women don’t even know they are making a risky choice by consuming alcohol because it is in the early stages of pregnancy. It is common for a female to not find out they are pregnant until at least the fifth or sixth week after fertilization. In 2006, 49% of all pregnancies in the United States were reported unintended on a national survey.1 The highest rate of preventable birth defects and mental retardation is due to alcohol use.2 In this paper, I will further discuss FAS, the potential effects of binge drinking during the embryonic stage of gestation, and what actions need to be taken in order to reduce the incidences of alcohol related birth defects.
Death is tragic and one of the most finite things on Earth. It can turn an average human being insane and change his/her life forever. Losing someone close and dear is incredibly painful and an experience one will not forget. Death can cause numerous emotions to bubble up, like sorrow, and grief. In “The Raven” Poe utilizes imagery, diction, and figurative language along with symbolism to illustrate how isolation can cause madness when one comes to terms with the finite consequences of death.
Edgar Allan Poe?s ?The Raven? is a dark reflection on lost love, death, and loss of hope. The poem examines the emotions of a young man who has lost his lover to death and who tries unsuccessfully to distract himself from his sadness through books. Books, however, prove to be of little help, as his night becomes a nightmare and his solitude is shattered by a single visitor, the raven. Through this poem, Poe uses symbolism, imagery and tone, as well as a variety of poetic elements to enforce his theme of sadness and death of the one he loves.