Sudden Infant

Rickeya Robinson left home one day last April to pick up her older kids and bring them back to the house. But when they returned, an ambulance was sitting out front: Ms. Robinson's 2-month-old infant son Zy'key, whom she had left in the house with her brother, had suddenly stopped breathing. Paramedics were unable to revive the child. Sudden infant death syndrome is the second-biggest killer of children under 1 year old in Baltimore. Only disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight take a greater toll.

ROCKVILLE -- Pinching his nostrils with one hand while clamping the other over his mouth, a medical examiner demonstrated to a Montgomery County jury yesterday how Garrett Michael Wilson might have been smothered in his crib by his father."

The plush, pastel quilts and pillows offer parents a warm, safe place for their babies to sleep, but more and more they are suspected of suffocating hundreds of babies a year across the country -- babies originally thought to have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), concerned physicians and advocacy groups are stepping up efforts to warn the public about the potential dangers of blankets and fluffy materials.But they are battling tradition, a big business and parents who misunderstand or ignore their advice.

Dr. John L. Carroll remembers well the weekend he "reformed," the weekend he stopped using the word "prevention" in connection with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.The pediatric pulmonologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center was at his computer, chatting on the Internet with parents who have lost babies to SIDS. In one of his exchanges, he mentioned "prevention." And all hell broke loose.For the next two days, inflamed SIDS parents from around the country waged a vehement campaign in protest of his vocabulary.

SIDS not the only cause of infant deathI read with interest the Oct. 29 article, "Grief, Guilt & SIDS," which concerned the controversy over "risk reduction" or "prevention" in regard to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. One aspect missing was that there are disorders other than sleep apnea that cause sudden infant death.My niece's 6-month-old child died and doctors called it SIDS, but when her next infant was born, hospitals in the area had started performing routine screening for a metabolic disorder present among Lancaster County, Pa., Mennonites.

A study of premature babies has found that a declining heart rate is responsible for at least some cases of sudden infant death syndrome, challenging the widespread belief that SIDS occurs when an infant unaccountably stops breathing.Dr. Robert G. Meny, a pediatrician at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said the finding should push research in a new direction -- prompting doctors to explore why the heart rate slows and what might be done to prevent it."With these recorded deaths we find there was a heart rate problem before the babies stopped breathing," said Dr. Meany, director of clinical services at the university's SIDS Institute.

BOSTON -- American women may be 100 times more vulnerable to breast cancer than their Stone Age ancestors, a group of researchers proposed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.The scientists called for research into hormonal treatments that might cause a woman's body to mimic that of her Stone Age cousins and thereby vastly lower her risk for breast cancer.The findings are based upon observation of hunter-gatherers in Africa and traditional Australian aborigines who still live much as did human ancestors of thousands of years ago, said Dr. S. Boyd Eaton, an Emory University radiologist.

CHICAGO -- Researchers and doctors across the nation are digging deeper into the mystery of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and finding clues that suggest many of the deaths labeled as SIDS are instead other rare maladies that have been overlooked or inadequately diagnosed by doctors. And they're still arguing -- loudly -- over how many are murders.As the debate rages, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched in Chicago one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of environmental and social risk factors for SIDS.

Sudden infant death syndrome appears to have killed the 6-month-old identical twins who stopped breathing in their Northeast Baltimore home Feb. 21, the chief state medical examiner said yesterday.Dr. John E. Smialek said that while all autopsy results aren't yet in, "many of the features of the boys' deaths seem consistent" with SIDS. No foul play is suspected, Dr. Smialek said.Brandon and Todd Blair apparently died from a medical rarity -- and suspicions aroused early in the case by misread X-rays were groundless, according to a person close to the investigation.

State medical examiners are still trying to determine what caused the deaths of twin infants who were revived by their mother after they mysteriously stopped breathing Sunday in a crib in their Northeast Baltimore home.City police say they are considering the possibility of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)."We're looking at it. But it's rare in twins -- there have only been 11 documented cases worldwide," said a police investigator.Autopsies on the 6-month-old twins, Brandon Blair and his brother, Todd, were not immediately conclusive, and medical examiners will be performing more tests to pinpoint why the tiny boys stopped breathing, police said.

Rickeya Robinson left home one day last April to pick up her older kids and bring them back to the house. But when they returned, an ambulance was sitting out front: Ms. Robinson's 2-month-old infant son Zy'key, whom she had left in the house with her brother, had suddenly stopped breathing. Paramedics were unable to revive the child. Sudden infant death syndrome is the second-biggest killer of children under 1 year old in Baltimore. Only disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight take a greater toll.

As many as 50 infants in Baltimore may have suffocated since 1998 while sleeping with a parent or older sibling, city officials said yesterday. Noting that bed-sharing was a factor in about half of the 99 sudden infant deaths during the past 4 1/2 years, Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, the city's health commissioner, issued a warning to let babies sleep alone. "We were so taken by this serious problem that we wanted to alert parents to the danger of sleeping with their very young infants," Beilenson said yesterday.

ROCKVILLE -- Pinching his nostrils with one hand while clamping the other over his mouth, a medical examiner demonstrated to a Montgomery County jury yesterday how Garrett Michael Wilson might have been smothered in his crib by his father."

The plush, pastel quilts and pillows offer parents a warm, safe place for their babies to sleep, but more and more they are suspected of suffocating hundreds of babies a year across the country -- babies originally thought to have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), concerned physicians and advocacy groups are stepping up efforts to warn the public about the potential dangers of blankets and fluffy materials.But they are battling tradition, a big business and parents who misunderstand or ignore their advice.

SIDS not the only cause of infant deathI read with interest the Oct. 29 article, "Grief, Guilt & SIDS," which concerned the controversy over "risk reduction" or "prevention" in regard to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. One aspect missing was that there are disorders other than sleep apnea that cause sudden infant death.My niece's 6-month-old child died and doctors called it SIDS, but when her next infant was born, hospitals in the area had started performing routine screening for a metabolic disorder present among Lancaster County, Pa., Mennonites.

Dr. John L. Carroll remembers well the weekend he "reformed," the weekend he stopped using the word "prevention" in connection with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.The pediatric pulmonologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center was at his computer, chatting on the Internet with parents who have lost babies to SIDS. In one of his exchanges, he mentioned "prevention." And all hell broke loose.For the next two days, inflamed SIDS parents from around the country waged a vehement campaign in protest of his vocabulary.

A study of premature babies has found that a declining heart rate is responsible for at least some cases of sudden infant death syndrome, challenging the widespread belief that SIDS occurs when an infant unaccountably stops breathing.Dr. Robert G. Meny, a pediatrician at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said the finding should push research in a new direction -- prompting doctors to explore why the heart rate slows and what might be done to prevent it."With these recorded deaths we find there was a heart rate problem before the babies stopped breathing," said Dr. Meany, director of clinical services at the university's SIDS Institute.

CHICAGO -- Researchers and doctors across the nation are digging deeper into the mystery of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and finding clues that suggest many of the deaths labeled as SIDS are instead other rare maladies that have been overlooked or inadequately diagnosed by doctors. And they're still arguing -- loudly -- over how many are murders.As the debate rages, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched in Chicago one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of environmental and social risk factors for SIDS.

As the Patriot pulled into Pennsylvania Station yesterday morning, about a dozen children and adults and a man in a bird suit stood on the train platform wearing red plastic clown noses."

Sudden infant death syndrome appears to have killed the 6-month-old identical twins who stopped breathing in their Northeast Baltimore home Feb. 21, the chief state medical examiner said yesterday.Dr. John E. Smialek said that while all autopsy results aren't yet in, "many of the features of the boys' deaths seem consistent" with SIDS. No foul play is suspected, Dr. Smialek said.Brandon and Todd Blair apparently died from a medical rarity -- and suspicions aroused early in the case by misread X-rays were groundless, according to a person close to the investigation.