The Child's Doctor articles
The Child’s Doctor, Journal of Children's Memorial Hospital,
Chicago
The Child’s Doctor
is published by Children’s Memorial
Hospital twice a year for
community-based physicians. The journal offers continuing medical education
(CME) through articles authored by Children’s Memorial’s physicians. It also
includes news articles on research at Children’s Memorial. Read the latest
issue of The Child’s Doctor here.
Articles on topics in
pediatric autonomic medicine:
Unraveling the
Mystery of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by Debra E. Weese-Mayer, MD Published Spring/Summer 2009
The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) remains the number 1
cause of post-neonatal death in the US, despite the success of the “Back to
Sleep” campaign launched in 1994 by the National Institutes of Child Health and
Human Development and the “Back is Best” recommendations from the American
Academy of Pediatrics in 1996. Although the specific cause for SIDS remains
undiscovered, researchers are exploring the genetic basis for SIDS
susceptibility, in attempts to establish more effective means to prevent sudden
death in vulnerable infants. In the unfortunate and devastating event that an
infant dies from SIDS, clinicians need to act quickly and sensitively to gather
information that can ultimately provide answers to the grieving family. A
systematic approach to this investigation can reveal a genetic condition that
might have been responsible for the infant’s death, giving the family an
invaluable opportunity for early detection and potential treatment if they
choose to have another child. It is also important to offer families the tissue
bank option as one way their tragedy can ultimately help save lives by
furthering research into the genetic causes of SID.
Research: Piecing together the genetics of SIDS by Vita Lerman Published Spring/Summer 2009
A genetic picture of SIDS susceptibility is starting to emerge. One of the major researchers determined to find the missing pieces within this genetic puzzle is Debra E. Weese-Mayer, MD, who leads the Center for Autonomic Medicine in Pediatrics (CAMP) at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Dysregulation of autonomic processes in SIDS might be caused by genetic
variants within the serotonin network.
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