TWELVTH IN A SERIES by BRUCE RITCHIE Hunger Strike update below...
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of FASD.
We will be looking at the six major regions of the brain that give FASD babies the lives they have never asked for. They are: Frontal Lobes, Corpus Callosum, Hippocampus, Hypothalamus, Cerebellum, Basal Ganglia.
The Cerebellum controls coordination and movement, behavior and memory. The cerebellum is one area that is particularly vulnerable to prenatal alcohol. Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure causes microcephaly and disproportionate reductions in the corpus callosum, basal ganglia, and cerebellum.
“Alcohol inhibits insulin-stimulated survival signals causing cerebellar hypoplasia in the developing brain. Using a rat model of FAS, this study found a decreased expression of the insulin gene in the cerebella of exposed rats. Alcohol exposure also caused a decrease in the amount of insulin, insulin-like growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase, glucose transport molecules, and steady-state levels of ATP in the cells of the cerebellum. These results suggest cerebellar hypoplasia resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure is caused by a deficient energy supply.
So. We are at day 11. One should think I'd be in the hospital suffering. But I said I was not going to be ridiculous about this. Am I hungry? Oh yeah...but I have allwed myself to eat rice and a few veggies on every 4th day. The petition I started is asking the government to table FASD, to start talking about new strategies, like making law, is small. It's not a legal petition but I'm satisfied that there is a record of my exposure in the city and that there are people who support my hunger strike.
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