John Gibb writes in the Otago Daily Times about a recent talk in Dunedin by Dr Ruth Napper about the effects of prenatal binge drinking on the development of a child.
In addition to Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), which is defined by a strict set of parameters, researchers have also found a larger group of children who lack some of the more obvious signs of FAS, but nonetheless show the brain damage associated with the condition.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“Her own research with animal models had shown that significant death of fetal neurons could result from a single drinking bout.
“”I was absolutely blown away by the number of dead cells I could see,” she said.
“In some cases, teachers who wondered why their pupils were having trouble performing certain learning tasks could be encountering the effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.”
