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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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Date: November 21, 2022  Source: Ohio State University

Summary: The number of stores selling alcohol in a neighborhood is linked to cases of child abuse and neglect in the same area, a new study suggests.
(While this is a US Study, this harm precipitating factor is common in most jurisdictions with this alcohol promotion and density reality – see further research below – D.I.)
The number of stores selling alcohol in a neighborhood is linked to cases of child abuse and neglect in the same area, a new study suggests.
A study in Sacramento, California, found that having one more off-premises alcohol outlet -- those selling alcohol to be consumed elsewhere -- in a census tract was related to 13.5% more substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in that area in a year and 10.5% entries into foster care.
The results show the importance of alcohol availability in creating conditions that may lead to child abuse, said Bridget Freisthler, lead author of the study and professor of social work at The Ohio State University.
The study was published online recently in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
The study explored alcohol use and availability and child abuse and neglect in 326 census block groups in Sacramento over three time points (1999, 2001 and 2003).
The researchers used a concept called "market potential," which is the total possible demand for a good -- in this case alcohol -- in a defined area.
"Market potentials are related to the number of bars, restaurants and off-premises alcohol outlets in a neighborhood," Freisthler said.
Outlets selling alcohol were counted using official state alcohol license data.

The results showed that a 1% higher per capita volume of alcohol consumed in a neighborhood was related to 3.2% more children entering foster care due to alcohol-related concerns.
Freisthler noted that having children enter foster care is a high threshold for determining that children are endangered by their parents' alcohol use. That suggests that reducing the total volume of alcohol among 18- to 29-year-olds should be the goal.
"Strategies that reduce drinking, even among those who drink at lower levels, may reduce alcohol-related foster care entries," she said.
One important way to do that would be to make alcohol less easily available in neighborhoods.
"What happens is that these stores that sell alcohol are placed into neighborhoods where, for example, they have more young people who also tend to drink more," Freisthler said.
"It perpetuates a cycle in which a population, young adults, that tends to drink more is given easier access to alcohol, which leads to more drinking. And the end result is more child maltreatment."
The study found that the presence of a store selling alcohol -- a measure of alcohol supply -- had a link to child abuse and neglect even after controlling for the alcohol market potential of 18- to 29-year-olds living in the neighborhood.
"This suggests that the location of an off-premises outlet within a neighborhood may impact child maltreatment outside of the alcohol consumed by those who live there," Freisthler said.
"We have to pay more attention to how the supply and availability of alcohol has an impact on child maltreatment if we want to make a real difference."
The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
 

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Also see

• Call for tighter booze laws (for Local Government and planning)
  
• Taking a sober look at the availability of alcohol
  
• Victorian Liquor Control Reform Amendment Bill 2021
  

(Cancer Council W.A Report November 2022) Download Report Here

Cancer Council WA have identified the following priorities for urgent liquor reform:

• Require that alcohol deliveries are not left unattended at the delivery address, and proof of age is checked in all cases to minimise risk of children and young people accessing alcohol bought online. Nine retailers in our audit already state this policy in their delivery terms, requiring that all alcohol deliveries are handed over to an appropriate person and not left unattended at any time.
  
• Restrict all alcohol delivery hours to between 10am and 10pm to minimise risks from alcohol use in the home late at night, such as the risks of family violence and suicide, which peak late at night. Only two retailers in our audit offered delivery after 10pm meaning that regulating now will have minimal impost on businesses while helping to ensure future market expansions don’t increase the risk associated with alcohol delivery late at night.
  
• Introduce a mandatory delay of two hours between alcohol order and delivery to prevent impulsive alcohol purchases and reduce the risk of rapid delivery enabling people to drink to high-risk levels. Nine retailers in our audit, mostly larger chain stores offered rapid delivery in under 2 hours to Perth. Many of these offered cheap alcohol products and negligible delivery costs.
  
• Require online alcohol retailers to verify that people buying alcohol are 18 years or older using an independent age verification mechanism. None of the retailers in our audit required digital age verification, however this measure has already been introduced in NSW regulations, making it likely that national businesses operating in WA will have taken steps to adopt the required technology.
  
• Require alcohol delivery businesses to report data to the liquor regulator on the number, time of day, and locations (by postcode) of alcohol deliveries, and the volume and retail sale price of alcohol delivered. Access to such data would support researchers to generate independent, robust evidence to inform further reviews of the regulations as the online marketplace evolves.
  

(Dalgarno Institute comment: As part of the Community of Practice looking into these practices, we totally concur with the recommendations. We have also submitted that regardless of how often a delivery is made to an address, I.D. of receiving person should not only be seen but recorded on each delivery and stored in central and reportable data bases.)

October 2022

In 2021, alcohol-induced deaths increased to the highest rate in a decade in Australia. The rise in alcohol deaths is driven by a marked increase in the death rate among men and increased deaths due to illnesses arising from long-term or chronic alcohol use, including liver cirrhosis.
The root cause of the problem is the alcogenic society in Australia, perpetuated and exploited by the alcohol industry to increase the availability of alcohol products to maximize profits at the cost of the health and wellbeing of people.
Alcohol-induced deaths are at the highest level in a decade in Australia. Hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are experiencing a massive influx of patients with diseases caused by alcohol.
In the face of this steep increase of alcohol deaths and diseases, Australian ‘alcogenic society’ has been identified as cause – a pervasive alcohol norm pushing alcohol into all aspects of life in Australia and driving alcohol use and harm.
On October 19, 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data on alcohol-induced deaths in 2021. The new data revealed alcohol-induced deaths are at the highest level in the last 10 years.

• In 2021, there were 1,559 people who died of an alcohol-induced death, comprising 1,156 men and 403 women.
  
• There was a 5.8% increase in the rate of alcohol-induced deaths, with 107 additional deaths since 2020.
  
• For males, the rate is the highest in the ten-year time series at 8.3 deaths per 100,000 people (8.1% increase since 2020).
  
• The rate for females remained the same as in 2020.
  

5.8% Increase in alcohol-induced deaths in Australia – There was a 5.8% increase in the rate of alcohol-induced deaths, with 107 additional deaths since 2020. This was the highest rate recorded in a decade.

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