Fetal Alcohol Disorders in Native Indians Issues surrounding the Native Indians, including American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian tribes, started when European settlers came to the Americas and American Indians were slowly pushed off of their lands.
This first started to be a true problem in the early 1800’s when the white settlers were bringing in more black slaves and farmland started expanding in the South. Thomas Jefferson stated that though he believed the American Indians were equal, he did not believe that they could co-exist together because of differences in religion, cultures, practices, and histories. He was worried about the growing unease between the whites and the Native Indians; whites were illegally selling the …show more content…
Studies show that Native Indians are five times more likely to have alcohol related deaths, diseases, driving related accidents, and fetal alcohol syndrome when compared to whites and the general population (Ertel, Rich-Edwards, Koenen, 2011).
Fetal Alcohol Disorders are being extensively studied today, the true cellular mechanism of how this affects the fetus and why it is so detrimental is still unknown. It is understood that alcohol can cross the placenta from the mother to the fetus, much like general nutrition; this means when mom drinks, the fetus will receive the same amount of alcohol as she does. However, the fetus is completely relying on the maternal hepatic detoxification for all blood filtration, this is because a fetus’ liver does not (can not) function like an adults’. This means the fetus is being exposed to high levels of alcohol where it does not have the ability to filter it out. Also, it has been shown that the amniotic fluid can act like a reservoir for the alcohol, giving the fetus prolonged exposure (Huether, McCance, …show more content…
The fetus may then have growth and mental retardation, facial anomalies, cognitive impairments and ocular malformations (Huether, McCance, 2012). Birth rates of fetal alcohol syndrome in Native Indians have been reported as high as 1.5 to 2.5 for every 1,000 live births compared to only .2 to 1.0 fetal alcohol births in the general public (SMAHSA, 2007).
Alcoholism in Native Indian women can be attributed to many factors; they experience a higher level of domestic violence, poverty, oppression, and possibly even displacement from their home as reservations continue to get smaller (SMAHSA, 2007). Many of these women are or are becoming a single parent, they have low education and no stable income; this leads to high rates of depression, leading to drinking (Ertel, Rich-Edwards, Koenen, 2011).
This first started to be a true problem in the early 1800’s when the white settlers were bringing in more black slaves and farmland started expanding in the South. Thomas Jefferson stated that though he believed the American Indians were equal, he did not believe that they could co-exist together because of differences in religion, cultures, practices, and histories. He was worried about the growing unease between the whites and the Native Indians; whites were illegally selling the …show more content…
Studies show that Native Indians are five times more likely to have alcohol related deaths, diseases, driving related accidents, and fetal alcohol syndrome when compared to whites and the general population (Ertel, Rich-Edwards, Koenen, 2011).
Fetal Alcohol Disorders are being extensively studied today, the true cellular mechanism of how this affects the fetus and why it is so detrimental is still unknown. It is understood that alcohol can cross the placenta from the mother to the fetus, much like general nutrition; this means when mom drinks, the fetus will receive the same amount of alcohol as she does. However, the fetus is completely relying on the maternal hepatic detoxification for all blood filtration, this is because a fetus’ liver does not (can not) function like an adults’. This means the fetus is being exposed to high levels of alcohol where it does not have the ability to filter it out. Also, it has been shown that the amniotic fluid can act like a reservoir for the alcohol, giving the fetus prolonged exposure (Huether, McCance, …show more content…
The fetus may then have growth and mental retardation, facial anomalies, cognitive impairments and ocular malformations (Huether, McCance, 2012). Birth rates of fetal alcohol syndrome in Native Indians have been reported as high as 1.5 to 2.5 for every 1,000 live births compared to only .2 to 1.0 fetal alcohol births in the general public (SMAHSA, 2007).
Alcoholism in Native Indian women can be attributed to many factors; they experience a higher level of domestic violence, poverty, oppression, and possibly even displacement from their home as reservations continue to get smaller (SMAHSA, 2007). Many of these women are or are becoming a single parent, they have low education and no stable income; this leads to high rates of depression, leading to drinking (Ertel, Rich-Edwards, Koenen, 2011).