European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 11, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Jane e. Brody new York times in the old testament Samson smother is admonished by an Angel thou shall conceive and Bear a  therefore beware i Pray thee an drink not wine nor Strong  in ancient Carthage the Law forbade bridal couples to drink on the wedding night. And in 1834, a report to the British House of commons noted that infants born to alcoholic mothers had a starved shrivelled and imperfect  but it was not until 1973 that medical scientists confirmed what people seem to have known for thousands of years that alcohol consumed by a pregnant woman can damage her unborn child. That year two paediatric researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle rediscovered and named fetal alcohol syndrome. At first it was thought that Only the offspring of heavy drinking alcoholic mothers were at risk. Now it is known that even As Little As two drinks a week May do damage. Knowledgeable physicians recommend that women abstain completely from alcohol from the moment they Start trying to conceive until they Are finished nursing. Even women who drank during previous pregnancies with no apparent ill effect on their offspring Are cautioned against assuming that subsequent children will be similarly spared. So widespread and serious Are the potential consequences of alcohol on the unborn child that Congress designated a National fetal alcohol syndrome awareness week in february. The goal was to make every woman of childbearing age aware of the danger and persuade her to refrain from alcohol for the Sake of her unborn child. Despite educational efforts since the mid-70s, it is estimated that 50,000 babies were born in the United states last year with permanent harm from prenatal alcohol exposure. Fetal alcohol syndrome or ., is a Cluster of severe physical and mental defects caused by alcohol damage to the developing fetus. While the particular defects vary from baby to baby these Are the most common major abnormalities growth retardation before and after birth with no catching up later even if the baby is Well nourished. . Children Are typically Small and thin. Facial malformations including Small widely spaced eyes Short upturned nose with a wide Flat Bridge Flat Cheeks narrow upper lip that lacks a vertical Groove and a Blunt Small Chin that May appear Large and pointed As the child gets older. Brain damage including an abnormally Small head and brain mild to moderate mental retardation . Is usually 60 to 75 hyperactivity poor coordination and learning disabilities. Abnormal development of various body organs including heart defects underdeveloped genitals in girls urinary tract and kidney defects among others. The full blown syndrome is most Likely to afflict the children of alcoholic mothers who drink heavily especially Early in pregnancy when the fetal organs Are forming. From 40 to 50 percent of the babies of heavy drinkers Are born with  Most of the other affected babies including Many born to far More moderate Consumers of alcohol May suffer More Subtle fetal alcohol effects. These include Small size again with no catching up after birth reduced intelligence learning disabilities hyperactivity Eye and speech problems and sometimes Organ abnormalities. During the Newborn period these babies tend to be restless have sleep problems cry often and Page 14 the stars and stripes uncontrollably and otherwise act in ways that could impair the Mother infant Bond. A study at Emory University in Atlanta showed behavioural problems in babies born to women who drank As few As two drinks a week throughout pregnancy. The babies appeared More agitated and stressed less in control of their bodies and less responsive to people and the environment. The behavioural defects persisted at least to one year of age and appear to be permanent. In addition several studies have shown that mothers who drink during pregnancy even As Little As two drinks a week Are More Likely to have miscarriages and stillbirths. Several sources including the american medical association in an excellent pamphlet alcohol & pregnancy Why they Don t mix have made these observations and warnings a pregnant women is literally drinking for two. Alcohol readily crosses the Placenta and reaches the same concentration in the fetal blood and body cells As in the Mother s. Some of the most devastating consequences of alcohol occur during the Early weeks of pregnancy before Many women even know they Are pregnant. Experts recommend that women Stop drinking when pregnancy is planned rather than waiting until Conception is confirmed. Alcohol is nothing but empty calories. Even if it did not cause malformation of the fetus it would be unwise for a pregnant woman to drink. She is better off consuming a nutritious liquid such As fruit juice or milk. There is no known Safe level of alcohol intake during pregnancy. While alcohol s effects Are clearly dose related with higher intakes associated with More severe damage even a Small amount of alcohol consumed at the wrong time May affect fetal development adversely. Fetal damage caused by alcohol cannot be detected prenatally through amniocentesis so there is no Way to find out before birth whether the fetus has been harmed. No form of alcohol is safer than another. Neither Beer nor wine is less damaging than hard liquor. Even drinking before pregnancy May have an untoward result. Research at the University of Washington showed that mothers who had about one drink a Day before pregnancy tended to have smaller babies. Fathers drinking too May have untoward effects. Men who drink heavily not Only Are More Likely to be impotent but also have lower sperm counts and lower sex hormone Levels. One animal study showed that when males were Given alcohol before mating with alcohol free females there were fewer live births and the offspring were smaller. The fetal damage wrought by alcohol occurs independently of the effects of smoking poor nutrition poverty illness and exposure to other drugs. So alcohol effects can occur even if the Mother is a Well nourished healthy nonsmoker. Fetal alcohol damage seems to be permanent. No amount of Good nutrition and postnatal care erase the growth retardation and brain Carriage. The effects of alcohol on a fetus Are highly variable. Other factors including genetics clearly play a role. For example in a Case involving non identical twins one twin was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and the other was much less severely affected with fetal alcohol effects. Many cases of prenatal alcohol damage go undetected. Experts estimate that for every child with ., at least 10 others have More Subtle and often unrecognized alcohol caused problems. Indeed prenatal alcohol exposure May turn out to be a primary cause of learning disabilities and hyperactivity. Some of the distressing behavioural results in newborns can be averted if a woman stops drinking by the sixth to Fath of pregnancy. Tuesday March 11, 1986 byte Minehart associated press t he grins that the five teen age boys wore As they dragged on cigarettes in the classroom turned to scowls when they tried to hold a wired Needle steady in a Hole in a Metal plate. Eighteen year old Jeff Blackwood s hand trembled and an electronic counter emitted a crackling sound As the wire he held touched the plate 50 times in 15 seconds. Sounds like Popcorn Over there said tobacco education Counselor Chris Tooten. The Day before when he had not had a cigarette break Blackwood had been Able to hold the Needle in the Hole touching the sides Only 18 times. During the two Day tobacco education program established for Charlotte Mecklenburg county n.c., students who break smoking rules three times Blackwood also Learned the cigarette increased his pulse rate and the Carbon monoxide level in his lungs while lowering his skin temperature. You can feel that said the olympic High school senior after seeing his pulse go up to 68.4 beats per minute from 58.9 the Day before. Even so Blackwood said he was t going to quit his pack a Day habit. You can get cancer just walking around he said. I like the taste of smoking. It does make you More shaky but inside it calms you  such comments Don t discourage Tooten. Maybe they re not going to quit right away but they re putting that information up in the Back of their Heads and they re going to think about it he said. The classes started in september with the school system s new anti smoking policy. This year juniors and seniors 17 and older May smoke in specified areas around the school with parental permission. Next year Only seniors May smoke and the year after no student May smoke. Tooten said the program began at the urging of members of the american heart association by Dorothy Gast associated press v Irginia harvests about $200million Worth of tobacco annually but that s not stopping officials at Testate s High schools from Banning student use of cigarettes snuff and other tobacco products on Campus. At least half dozen Virginia school divisions have policies prohibiting students from using tobacco. Some Are even barring teachers from smoking. We thought it was very inconsistent to teach health and then turn around and give students an Opportunity to establish poor health habits said Dennis w. Hammack principal at Martinsville High school which banned student tobacco use a year ago. Henry county which surrounds Martinsville produced a million pounds of flue cured tobacco in 1985. Although there Are still some infractions Hammack said i think we be had total acceptance by the Community and acceptance by a majority of the  Virginia is fourth among the states in tobacco production following North Carolina Kentucky and Tennessee said Clarence Dunkerley statistician with the Virginia crop reporting service. In 1984, he said Virginia harvested 116 million pounds of tobacco Worth $207 million. Despite a Reliance by states on the tobacco Many High schools Are getting Tough on students and teachers who smoke. Is photo the american lung association and the american cancer society who told the school Board it was inconsistent to allow smoking while promoting health through athletics and health classes. The biofeedback feature of the tobacco education program was started by Deena gulp a former Charlotte school official who moved on to the state department of Public instruction to develop tobacco drug and alcohol education programs for other school systems. Charlotte Mecklenburg is very progressive she said. It accepts responsibility for educating its students in the health risks of tobacco use where in Many parts of the state that would not be touched because it s a political Issue because North Carolina is a tobacco  no other North Carolina school has an anti smoking class said Steve Hicks director of the state schools alcohol and drug abuse program. Scott Stapf a spokesman for the tobacco Institute the cigarette Industry s Trade group said he did t know if the biofeedback techniques of the Charlotte class were a Good Industry some of their school districts do limit student smoking said Michele Kling director of print Media for the american lung association in new York. High schools throughout the country Are Banning smoking she said. The National school boards association is planning an october conference for school Board and health officials to focus on tobacco use said Jeremiah Floyd the group s executive director. Many Dodds v ic41 i y of Al of by Mary Hladky staff writer a though smoking among High school students has decreased in theu.s., officials of department of defens dependents schools doubt that trend has spread across the Ocean. We have a High percent smoking said Bill Houston health curriculum director for Dodds Germany. Our average is above the National  Houston is surveying schools to find out exactly How Many students smoke. While results Are not yet in he is certain the number will exceed statistics compiled by the National Institute on drug abuse. Those show 18.7 percent of High school seniors in the . Smoked daily in 1984, Down idea. But he said the Industry is against smoking by minors. Similar classes have been tried in at least six other states since 1977, said Jackie Ramsay of the american lung association. In new Hampshire 16.6 percent of the smokers in the program in 1977 stopped smoking for Good she said. Since there have been Only a few classes in Charlotte it s too Early to Tell How effective they have been Tooten said. Unlike the Charlotte program which takes Only smokers other programs also target non smokers for prevention. It s definitely More effective before they Start Ramsay said. Blackwood and the other students said seeing firsthand what smoking did to their bodies was t enough to make them quit but Many said they wished they could. I want to Stop because i know it s bad for me said Blackwood. ". They just sort of proved  said another student 17-year-old Pete o Neill i probably would t Start now. But i had no sense when i started. I was 14." after the conference he said the group plans to put together a manual for schools showing various smoking policies that districts have tried. The project and manual Are part of a push by the association the american cancer society the american lung association and the american heart association to meet the . Surgeon general s goal of a smoke free Youthful society by the year 2000, Floyd said. From 21.2 percent in 1983. European culture and cigarette Price and availability Are the reason for the difference Houston said. Europeans Are big smokers he said. Cigarettes Are cheap in . Facilities smoking is banned in All Dodds High schools but schools also have set aside outdoor smoking areas. We try to make it the least desirable place we can find Houston said. Smoking can not be banned entirely from school campuses because smokers will move into housing or other areas prompting complaints from members of the military Community Houston said. Dodds has no anti smoking programs but does include the risks of smoking in health education classes beginning in kindergarten. The emphasis in health classes up to sixth Grade is on smoking he said. The stars and stripes Page 15