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23/11/2022
Drinking even small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can change a baby’s brain structure and delay its brain development, according to a new study.
Scientists analysed MRI scans of foetuses whose mothers had reported drinking alcohol during their pregnancies, comparing them with the scans of babies whose mothers hadn’t.
They found that even in cases of low level alcohol exposure, changes to the brain structure were "significant"
"We found the greatest changes in the temporal brain region and STS," Kasprian said.
"We know that this region, and specifically the formation of the STS, has a great influence on language development during childhood".
Brain changes were seen in the foetuses even at low levels of alcohol exposure.
"Seventeen of 24 mothers drank alcohol relatively infrequently, with average alcohol consumption of less than one alcoholic drink per week," Kienast said.
"Nevertheless, we were able to detect significant changes in these foetuses based on prenatal MRI".
Delayed brain development
Three mothers drank one to three drinks per week, and two mothers drank four to six drinks per week.
One mother consumed an average of 14 or more drinks per week. Six mothers also reported at least one binge drinking event (exceeding four drinks on one occasion) during their pregnancy.
According to the researchers, delayed foetal brain development could be specifically related to a delayed stage of myelination and less distinct gyrification in the frontal and occipital lobes.
The myelination process is critical to brain and nervous system function. Myelin protects nerve cells, allowing them to transmit information faster. Important developmental milestones in infants, such as rolling over, crawling, and language processing are directly linked to myelination.
Gyrification refers to the formation of the folds of the cerebral cortex. This folding enlarges the surface area of the cortex with limited space in the skull, enabling an increase in cognitive performance. When gyrification is diminished, functionality is reduced.
"Pregnant women should strictly avoid alcohol consumption,” Kienast said. “As we show in our study, even low levels of alcohol consumption can lead to structural changes in brain development and delayed brain maturation".
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Transfer of cannabinoids into the milk of dairy cows fed with industrial hemp could lead to Δ9-THC exposure that exceeds acute reference dose
Abstract: The industrial hemp sector is growing and, in recent years, has launched many novel hemp-derived products, including animal feed. It is, however, unclear to what extent individual cannabinoids from industrial hemp transfer from the feed into products of animal origin and whether they pose a risk for the consumer. Here we present the results of a feeding experiment with industrial hemp silage in dairy cows. Hemp feeding included changes in feed intake, milk yield, respiratory and heart rates, and behaviour. We combined liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry-based analyses and toxicokinetic computer modelling to estimate the transfer of several cannabinoids (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), Δ8-THC, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin, 11-OH-Δ9-THC, 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-THC, cannabidiol, cannabinol and cannabidivarin) from animal feed to milk. For Δ9-THC, which has a feed-to-milk transfer rate of 0.20% ± 0.03%, the acute reference dose for humans was exceeded in several consumer groups in exposure scenarios for milk and dairy product consumption when using industrial hemp to feed dairy cows.
For complete research click PDF Here
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New Global Initiative to Challenge Alcohol Harms
“10% of all deaths among people 15-49 are alcohol related!
“10 Seconds is how often someone somewhere dies from alcohol-related harms!”
“Every year, alcohol use cuts millions of lives short and causes even more widespread suffering,” said Adam Karpati, Senior Vice President, Public Health Programs at Vital Strategies. “The onus can't be on individuals. We must reset from an environment where the alcohol industry is empowered to push alcohol into nearly every aspect of our lives, including schools, sports, and media. We need policies that protect kids, make healthy choices the easy choices, and check industry’s influence. RESET Alcohol will do just that through strong partnerships with government and civil society leaders who are committed to action.”
RESET Alcohol is a collaboration of six global organizations: Vital Strategies, which is leading the initiative; Movendi International; the University of Illinois Chicago; the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA); the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Alliance; and World Health Organization (WHO).
(The Dalgarno Institute are standing members of Movendi International, and are pleased to endorse this growing endeavour – it is way past time the predatory Alcohol Industry was seriously brought to account #alcoholawareness)
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The Dalgarno Institute proud to be part of this successful advocacy, not only by our direct lobbying of government, but also as members of National Alliance for Action on Alcohol and Movendi International #DemandReduction and #SupplyReduction go hand-in-hand!
Australia has raised its alcohol excise taxes by 4% bringing the price of a pint of beer to $15. Currently, Australia increases excise taxes on beer twice a year according to inflation, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Big Beer has for years been lobbying aggressively to secure tax cuts. The most recent attempt was a few months ago, prior to the Australian Budget. But inspired advocacy by communities halted this ill-advised proposal.
The industry proposed beer tax cut would have cost the Australian government $150 million per year. Over three years, this could amount to almost half a billion dollars lost. Meanwhile, Big Beer giants Lion and Asahi, which control almost three-quarters of the beer market in Australia, would have benefitted the most with windfall profits
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These harrowing cancer statistics can actually be good news - Sarah Berry August 24, 2022
Alcohol use is the second leading risk factor.
“People like to think ‘it’s not me, it’s the really heavy drinkers who are at risk’, but cancer risk is absolute,” Pettigrew said. “Every mouthful is a carcinogen in its own right. It’s not like you have to get drunk to get cancer. That’s not readily understood.”
Historically, she says, research suggested people who drank a little were healthier than people who drank nothing or people who drank a lot. “It took researchers a while to figure out that in that ‘drink nothing’ category are a lot of people with illnesses or other kinds of problems that have made them stop drinking. Now we can see every drink increases your risk.”
High body mass index (BMI) came third on the list, both in Australia and globally, according to the study, which looked at data from 204 countries in 2019. Other leading risk factors contributing to 4.45 million deaths (44 per cent of global cancer deaths) included high blood glucose, poor diet, unsafe sex, air pollution and exposure to asbestos.
One of the paper’s authors, Dr Xiaoyue (Luna) Xu, of the University of New South Wales, said there had been a 20 per cent increase in cancer deaths between 2010 and 2019 from lifestyle and environmental factors. Risk from high BMI and high fasting plasma glucose increased the most. “Much work needs to be done to change this,” Xu said.
The work includes supporting people to live a healthy lifestyle and understand its significance in preventing chronic disease, and living longer after being diagnosed with chronic conditions, said Dr David Mizrahi, a research fellow at the University of Sydney’s The Daffodil Centre.
“More support is needed from governments, starting from a young age, to educate communities and support lifelong behaviour change to allow communities to reduce the impact of cancer in their communities,” Mizrahi said.
The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. (Source: Lancet August 2022)
Also Read
- Alcohol Directly Causes Cancer, New Study Shows
- Raising Awareness of the Link Between Alcohol and Cancer
- Alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors for breast cancer (W.H.O)
- Alcohol consumption and liver, pancreatic, head and neck cancers in Australia: 2017
- No amount of bacon or alcohol is safe, World Cancer Research Fund says
- Teens drink less if they know alcohol causes cancer — but most don’t — Adelaide University and SAHMRI study finds