Re: SIDS caused by faulty sertonin - SSRI testing is already planned

November 3, 2006

> I was wondering if anyone on this group saw on the news about how

> researchers claim that serotonin imbalance has sometihing to do

with

> SIDS. Wanna make a bet that the next thing they will be doing is

> prescribing antidepressants to newborns. I'd also thought I'd

mention

> that years ago they found out it was the DPT vaccine that was the

cause

> of SIDS. When Japan delayed givng th DPT to newborns their SIDS

cases

> disappeared.

>

> Peggy

>

" ..........In future studies, the researchers plan to examine the

role of other serotonin receptor subtypes in both lab animals and in

SIDS cases. Moreover, they are also planning to test selective

serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in pregnant lab animals, to see

if the drugs have an effect on the fetal animals' developing

brainstems in regions that are affected in SIDS infants "

same Gov sponsors as the Aids Drug trials exposed in 2004 -

A referenced thread is being put together on the UK board

SSRIWITHDRAWALSUPPORT - http://www.network54.com/Forum/281849/

Tuesday

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct2006/nichd-31.htm

" Last Update: 10/31/2006

National Institute of Child Health

and Human Development (NICHD)

October 31, 2006

Backgrounder

Searching For Those at Greatest Risk For SIDS

The current study appears in the November 1 Journal of the American

Medical Association provides additional evidence that brainstem

abnormalities may impair an infant's ability to sense high carbon

dioxide and low oxygen levels. Such impairment would put an infant at

risk in situations in which they breathe in their own exhaled breath,

depriving them of oxygen. The study represents the latest in a body

of research begun in the mid 1980's and initiated by study senior

author, Hannah Kinney, .M.D. Dr. Kinney is a longtime grantee of the

NICHD. In 1983, when she was a fellow in pathology, Dr. Kinney

published a study describing subtle scarring on the brainstem of a

number of infants who died of SIDS, corroborating isolated

observations by other researchers at the time. During the 1990s, Dr.

Kinney and her coworkers examined brainstem tissue from SIDS infants,

comparing them to brainstem tissue from controls, to determine which

of 6 neurotransmitter systems might potentially be involved in the

disorder.

The researchers learned that a region at the surface of the brainstem

using glutamate and acetylcholine-both neurotransmitters thought to

be involved in sensing carbon dioxide levels in the blood-were

abnormal in SIDS cases. However, the greatest involvement appeared to

be with a wider brainstem network relying on the neurotransmitter

serotonin, thought to play an even greater role in regulating

breathing. Infants who died of SIDS appeared to have fewer serotonin

receptors than did infants who died of other causes. At the time,

multiple subtypes of the serotonin receptor had not yet been

identified.

In the current study, Drs. Kinney, Paterson, and their colleagues

took advantage of more refined methods to examine the pattern of the

serotonin receptor 1A subtype. They were also able to count serotonin-

using cells, and estimate their prevalence in the brainstem,

something that had not been possible previously. In future studies,

the researchers plan to examine the role of other serotonin receptor

subtypes in both lab animals and in SIDS cases. Moreover, they are

also planning to test selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

in pregnant lab animals, to see if the drugs have an effect on the

fetal animals' developing brainstems in regions that are affected in

SIDS infants

" Our goal is to find a way-a diagnostic test-to identify these

defects in living infants and then find a way to correct these

defects by drugs or other means as the infant passes through the

first six months of life, the period of greatest risk for SIDS, " Dr.

Kinney said.

Along with providing funding for Dr. Kinney's laboratory, the NICHD

funds a wide range of research projects in sudden infant death

syndrome. The Back to Sleep Campaign, which urges parents and

caregivers to place infants to sleep on their backs, has greatly

reduced the SIDS rate. However, the practice cannot eliminate all

SIDS deaths.

" Back sleeping is an intervention for all babies, but we still can't

target high risk babies because we can't identify them, " said n

Willinger, PhD. " There are still babies who die of SIDS after being

placed on their backs. "

The NICHD supports a broad portfolio of SIDS research, which includes

research on the brain, biological and behavioral markers of abnormal

brain function, along with research on prenatal, genetic, behavioral,

and environmental factors that may increase SIDS risk. The NICHD also

supports technology development to detect potential abnormalities in

infants at risk for SIDS.

" Eventually, we hope to have an understanding of the developmental

disease process underlying SIDS, so that we can identify infants at

highest risk and provide them with appropriate intervention, " Dr.

Willinger said.

###

The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth;

maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and

population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information,

visit the Web site at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical

Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a

component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is

the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic,

clinical, and translational medical research, and it investigates the

causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For

more information about NIH and its programs, visit

http://www.nih.gov. "

November 3, 2006