Adults exposed to alcohol before birth appear prone to health conditions: survey
VANCOUVER — Myles Himmelreich has struggled with significant joint pain since he was a teen, yet he didn’t get a proper diagnosis of arthritis until he was in his mid-30s.
His young age and the fact he is diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder may have prevented doctors from considering testing his joints sooner — a problem he says is all too common for adults with the disorder, a spectrum of irreversible developmental issues resulting from alcohol exposure in the womb.
Himmelreich, CJ Lutke and Emily Travis co-authored a survey of 541 people living with the disorder in Canada and the United States to see how commonly they experience other physical and mental health conditions. Their findings are being presented Saturday in Vancouver at a conference hosted by the University of British Columbia.
Of over 260 questions pertaining to conditions in 25 areas, such as hearing, autoimmune or cardiovascular disease, they found that people with the disorder experienced health problems at a rate that was anywhere from two times to more than 100 times higher than the general population.