History of FASD-Addendum
May 26, 2008 by rosie
Filed under Did You Know?-Current Updates, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
This post contains additions/updates to the history FASD citations written by Peggy Oba.
WHO adopts Swedish alcohol resolution
Published: 25 May 08 12:05 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/12002/
The World Heath Organisation (WHO) has adopted a Sweden-backed global alcohol resolution at its annual World Health Assembly which was concluded in Geneva on Saturday.
Victory for Sweden in EU beer row (8 Apr 08) The resolution means that the WHO will develop a global strategy as part of its battle against health problems such as smoking and obesity.
The WHO, in a press release summarizing the results of the assembly, recognized that work needed to be intensified to “curb the harmful use of alcohol” which is the fifth leading risk factor for death and disability in the world.
Sweden has pushed hard for the development of a global strategy and has received the backing of its Scandinavian neighbours in lobbying for the adoption of a ‘Swedish’ view on alcohol policy. The resolution brought by Sweden and the other Nordic countries at the World Health Assembly in 2007 failed in the face of opposition from Cuba, a significant alcohol producer.
The resolution was this year presented by Rwanda with the support of several other African countries. Sweden had underlined its express support for the resolution.
Sweden’s public health minster, Maria Larsson, emphasised the importance of the alcohol issue to the WHO in several meetings and in her speech to the assembly. “The so-called non-infectious diseases, such as injuries resulting from alcohol abuse, account for 60 percent of the world’s illnesses, according to WHO statistics. To work against the abuse of alcohol is an investment for better health in the whole world,” said Maria Larsson in a government press release. “I am very happy that the WHO has now decided to work more intensively against the abuse of alcohol. The resolution that Sweden has worked with, and which has now been passed, becomes an important tool in this work.”
The WHO reports that work on the strategy will begin immediately and member states will be consulted during the drafting process over the coming two years. The resolution calls on the Director-General to consult with intergovernmental organizations, health professionals, nongovernmental organizations and economic operators on ways to contribute to reducing the harmful effects of alcohol.
Concrete measures can be expected to include a raft of recommendations for the marketing of alcohol, anti-drinking campaigns, licensing regulations and pricing.
1791. Eramus Darwin publishes The Botanical Garden, drawn from two poetic works, The Economy of Vegetation and The Loves of the Plants. A thinly disguised treatise on the relationship between animals and plants. A footnote states, “…It is remarkable that all diseases from drinking spirituous or fermented liquors are liable to beome hereditary, even unto the third generation, gradually increasing, if the cause be continued, till the family becomes extinct.”
1834. Slovenian physician, F.W. Lippich, publishes a four year study on the fertility of the drinking population which shows a decline in the number of offspring to drinking parents.
1857. Morel, Benedict-Augustin. Traite des Degenerescences Physiques, Intellectuelles et Morales de l’espece Humaine et des causes qui produisent ces varietes maladives. Paris: Masson. This work has never been translated from the French. Morel was intensely interested in heredity. Especially in how heredity is influenced by the intake of “intoxications” or poisons. In particular, he was interested in alcohol and opium abuse. Chapter 1, Section Deuxieme, Part 1, in particular discusses the effects of alcohol on infants.
May 18, 1989: Jim Beam Whiskey wins birth defects case in Seattle, Washington. An alcoholic birth mother sued Jim Beam because of inadequate warning in regard to her child’s birth defect, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The jury ruled against her. The premise being, even warning labels would not have prevented her from drinking.
365-427 A.D. Chinese poet, Yuanming Tao, known for his love of drinking, wrote a poem about the mental abilities of his five sons, each succeeding son seemingly having more problems than the first. A possible example of FAS and parity. Although this is no mention of his wife’s drinking history, it is quite possible that being married to a self-admitted alcoholic, she herself also drank.
There are several versions of his poem on his sons.
The first is called ” The Five Sons”. “I am wrinkled and gray,/And old before my day:/For on five sons I look,/And not one loves a book./Ah-shu is sixteen years,/The sight of book he fears;/He is the laziest lout/You’d find the world throughout./Ah-suen has tried in vain/A little wit to gain;/He shirks the student’s stool,/At grammar he’s a fool!/Yong-twan is thirteen now,/And yet I do avow/He can’t discriminate/The numbers six and eight!/Ton-tze is only nine,/But clearly does opine/That life, with all its cares/Consists of nuts and pears./Alas, that Fate so dour/On me her vials should pour!/What can I do but dine,/And drown my woes in wine!” Ttranslated by Charles Budd)
The second called “Blaming Sons”. “White hair covers my temples,/I am wrinkled…/And though I have five sons,/They all hate paper and brush./A-shu is eighteen:/For laziness there is none like him./A-hsuan does his best,/But really loathes the Fine Arts/Yung-tuan is thirteen,/But does not know “six” from “seven”./T’ung-tzu in his ninth year/Is only concerned with things to eat./If Heaven treats me like this,/What can I do but fill my cup?” (Translated by Arthur Waley)
The third is called “My Sons”. “My temples now are covered with white hair,/My flesh and muscles firm and taut no more;/Although among my children are five sons,/Paper and pen they every one abhor./The eldest son, Ah Su, is now sixteen,/Whose laziness without a rival rests;/The second son, Ah Hsuan, almost fifteen,/Still books and learning heartily detests;/Both Yung and Tuan, although just turned thirteen./To count to six or seven do not know;/Tung Tzu, my youngest son, now nearly nine,/Only to look for nuts and pears will go./If such a destiny indeed be mine/Had I not better fill my cup with wine?” (Translated by Gladys M. Taylor & H. Y. Yang)
The fourth is called “Blaming Sons”. “My temples now are covered with white hairs,/My skin is wrinkled, my muscles are slack../Although I have five sons, none of them cares/To learn to read and write in white or black./My eldest son already is twice eight,/For laziness none can be his compeers./My second son will never dedicate/Himself to fine arts, though at fifteen years./My third son is thirteen, so is my fourth one,/But they don’t know how much makes six plus seven./Nearly nine years old is my youngest son, /Amid the pears and nuts he is in heaven./Alas! If such be the decree divine,/What can I do but drain my cup of wine!” (Translated by: Xu Yuan Zhong)