SIDS: Sudden Infant Death "Syndrome"
Lendon H. Smith, MD, with Joseph
G. Hattersley, MA
June 6, 2000
Originally published in the
Townsend Letter for
Doctors and Patients Aug/Sept, 2000
This article summarizes the book
The Infant Survival Guide: Protecting Your Baby from
the Dangers of Crib Death, Vaccines and Other
Environmental Hazards, by the same authors. It
is currently being published by Smart Publications,
Petaluma, CA.
We propose
a new paradigm.
The conventional paradigm, or system of
thought about crib death, assumes the cause is
unknown; and preventing it is hopeless; that SIDS is
multifactorial, that several mechanisms can
function, possibly several at the same time.
Further, that no one of these may be fatal, but a
combination can kill; and that one can only lower
the risk and offer sympathy afterward. This approach
to crib death is a cop-out and a failure.
The New
Paradigm
(A) SIDS has one primary cause,
which we identify, noting a very few exceptions.
(B) And we present the preventives
that have achieved 100-percent success; whence the
title: VICTORY OVER CRIB DEATH.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is an
unexpected infant death, after which thorough
autopsy and examination of the death scene and
circumstances at time of death reveal no
identifiable cause of death. SIDS risk begins about
two weeks after birth. It is the leading cause of
death in months one to six, declines rapidly after a
peak in the third month when the immune status
received from the mother is ebbing, and is rare
after a year of age.
The
definition "SIDS" is faulty, for two reasons.
(1) A syndrome is "the aggregate of
symptoms associated with a disease condition."[1] In
crib death the only symptom is death itself. The
"syndrome" designation opened the door for well-paid
specialists to enjoy a nice lifestyle while
investigating various "risk factors" -- but ignoring
the actual cause.
(2) The term "sudden" also is
inapplicable; we show that certain precipitating
events make crib death, and sometimes its probable
date, predictable.
Before World War II, unexplained
infant deaths were unusual. But after 1950, the
governments of nearly all the rich industrialized
countries (regarding Japanese practice, see later)
required treatment of baby and child mattresses with
flame retardant chemicals. Phosphorus and antimony
were most commonly used; arsenic was sometimes added
later as a preservative.[2]
Sadly, this
well-intentioned measure was counterproductive in
two ways.
(1) American SIDS deaths ballooned
400-fold; the toll has since declined.
(2) Among knowledgeable observers,
it is well known that the number of baby deaths in
residential blazes multiplied.[3] Statistical
evidence, unfortunately, is not available.
The mechanism of death is identical
in both types of tragedy: the generation of
extremely poisonous gases from the chemicals that
had been added -- in all innocence. First, with
regard to SIDS. Common, ordinarily harmless
household fungi such as Scopulariopsis brevicaulis
and certain microorganisms consume the phosphorus,
arsenic, antimony, added as fire retardants and
plastic softeners.
In consuming the chemicals, the
fungi emit the heavier-than-air neurotoxic gases
based on phosphine (PH3), arsine (AsH3)[4] and
stibine (SbH3). These gases are about one thousand
times more poisonous than carbon monoxide, which can
kill a person in a closed garage with a running
engine. They are about as toxic as Sarin, used in
the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and in a Tokyo terrorist
subway poisoning in 1995.
In probably the worst environmental
disaster of the 20th century, these toxic gases
have killed about one million victims of SIDS
worldwide. Gas generation starts when a
mattress, containing both the chemicals and the
fungi, is warmed to body temperature in contact with
the baby. Perspiration, dribble, urine, vomit, body
heat and -- as we shall see, critically important --
high (alkaline) pH enable the fungi to grow and
generate gas rapidly.
If a mattress contains any antimony,
for example, there is invariably more than
enough, when converted to stibine, to kill a baby.
Breathed for an extended time even in minute
quantity, these nearly odorless gases can interrupt
the choline/acetylcholine transfer of nervous
impulses from the brain to the heart and lungs. That
shuts down the central nervous system; heart
function and breathing stop. For another proposed
mechanism of toxic gas death, see later.
Most of these gases (phosphine is an
exception, details below) remain in a thin layer on
the baby’s crib and diffuse away. But if enough gas
accumulates to a fatal dose, the parents know
nothing of it until their terrible discovery,
typically the next morning. The attendant
psychiatric morbidity from needless guilt reactions
is enormous.[5] Every parent of a small baby or
parent-to-be is wondering, "Will my child become a
statistic? Will he/she have to die because of
something I did or did not do?" Older children are
less at risk because the gases cause them to develop
a headache and call for help. For physiological
reasons, adults are not put at risk by such gas
generation. As to how these gases kill in house
conflagrations, see later.
A fever, the God-given mechanism for
killing dangerous organisms, can become a two-edged
sword. A rise in the temperature of mattress and
bedding in contact with the baby from 98.6 F to 104
F can make the fungi more active and thus increase
toxic gas generation tenfold or more.[6] Many boy
babies have a faster metabolic rate and inhale a
greater volume of air than girls, and their slightly
higher temperature causes fungi to generate gases
more rapidly. The result is higher SIDS risk: in one
study, the SIDS rate for boys was 30 percent higher
than for girls.[7]
In some cases, fungal growth in PVC,
polyvinyl chloride, a soft plastic commonly used as
the mattress covering, was associated with
development of a pink stain in the shape of the
sleeping infant. Such mattresses were always found
to be generating one or more of the gases.
(Richardson asked, "Must babies still die?") Pink
stain often results from, and demonstrates presence
of, this type of fungal growth. There is even a
reference in the Bible to pinkish mildew, and a
health warning given (Leviticus 14:B).
To prevent crib death, an
appropriate gas-impermeable barrier is needed
between mattress and baby. An inexpensive slip-on
mattress cover called
BabeSafe® -- invented by New Zealander T.J.
Sprott, PhD -- came to market in New Zealand in
1996. Among one hundred thousand or so babies
sleeping on this/these product(s) there and
elsewhere, not one crib death has been reported.[8]
[9] [10] An equally successful alternative is to
wrap the entire mattress using thick, clear
polyethylene plastic; see instructions with supply
details at the end of this document.
Until
BabeSafe® is obtained, or when its use might not
be feasible as while traveling, mothers can
reduce (but not eliminate) the risk of SIDS by
elevating the head end of the crib an inch or two,
letting any of these heavier than air toxic gases
flow to the foot end -- and dissipate away to the
floor. A rolled towel prevents the baby from
sliding. According to an informal test reported in
the 1960s by an American metropolitan newspaper,
that procedure prevented any crib deaths. We could
not track down the source. The result, mysterious at
the time, is now readily explained by the research
outlined above. Also, ensure that baby sleeps face
up. A bassinet with impervious sides would trap
gases.
Historical
Background
The fungal generation of arsines in
conditions of mildew has been known for well over a
hundred years. This killed thousands of children in
Europe in the 1800s; the Italian analytical chemist
Gosio discovered its cause in 1892.[11] [12] Dr.
Sprott proposed a toxic gas explanation for SIDS in
1986.[13] He is a consulting chemist and forensic
scientist; his success, notably in certain criminal
cases, earned him great fame and respect in New
Zealand. In 1989, Mr. Barry A. Richardson, a widely
published British consulting scientist and expert in
materials degradation, independently came to the
same conclusion, and then further refined and
elaborated the connection to crib death in the early
1990s.[14] [15] Dr. Sprott, who generously
cooperated with us in writing our book and this
article, corroborated and strengthened the argument
in 1996 in his compelling book,
The Cot Death Cover-up?, cited above.
Also in 1989, British
nonprofessional researcher Peter Mitchell, deeply
concerned at the high SIDS rate in Britain, made a
further landmark discovery. Studying records of
hundreds of cases, he found that the risk of crib
death doubles from a mother’s first baby to her
second and doubles again from the second to the
third baby. Others had noticed this factor, but
couldn’t explain higher SIDS risk among a mother’s
later babies.
The Toxic Gas Explanation for SIDS
makes it quite clear: the fungal spores are
established during prior use; and so gas production
starts sooner and in greater volume. Mr. Mitchell
also found that infants of poor single mothers,
typically young and immature, have previously used
mattresses and bedding because they cannot afford
new ones. Because of this and the high stresses of
daily living, they have seven times greater risk
than babies of wealthy parents, who almost always
buy new mattresses and bedding for their babies.[16]
Similarly, in Taiwan from 1988 to
1992, babies born second to fourth were 70 percent
more likely to die of SIDS than the first; risk for
fifth or later babies was up 130 percent.[17] The
authors of this report didn’t know about toxic
gases, and so they couldn’t understand their
finding. Only the toxic gas hypothesis can explain
these statistics -- which almost certainly apply to
such countries as the U.S. and Canada.
The two discoveries, (1) One hundred
percent protection by
BabeSafe® and (2) the doubled, then quadrupled
risk in subsequent babies, appear to destroy
theories blaming SIDS on vaccinations (see later),
poor nutrition, rebreathing of CO2, or any medical
cause. Also, as Dr. Sprott explains, the totality of
our knowledge about SIDS makes it clear that there
is only one cause.
As would be expected if toxic gases
are the true cause, reducing babies’ exposure to
them lowered crib deaths. This is why face-up
sleeping reduced SIDS by removing the baby’s face
somewhat from the mattress. Toxic gas output
from infants’ mattresses declined rapidly in Britain
after Mr. Richardson publicized his hypothesis in
June 1989, and again in December 1994 after he and
Dr. Sprott dramatized the problem in "The Cook
Report," a highly-rated program on BBC television.
Parents bought new mattresses that lacked the
potential for toxic gas creation, or properly
wrapped old ones. Manufacturers quietly began to
remove the chemicals, which fire safety regulations
had required.[18] Before that, the SIDS rate in
Britain had been rising; it had reached a tragic new
peak in 1986-88 when more phosphorus was added to
baby mattresses.[19] It fell for the first time
immediately after Richardson’s 1989 announcement.
The ongoing, first-ever decline in
Britain’s SIDS rate accelerated in December 1991,
after "Back-to-Sleep" publicity urged parents to put
babies to sleep face up.[20] [21] The toxic gas
hypothesis explains the nearly worldwide drop in
crib deaths, which followed that campaign.[22]
Incidentally, New Zealand was the first country to
make face-up sleeping a national program, after
research there proved its effectiveness. Some babies
are known to have rolled from side to prone before
dying.[23] Yet, many SIDS victims have died sleeping
face-up. The London Stationery Office reported, of
305 SIDS babies put to bed face-up, 105 were found
dead still lying face-up.[24] This refutes the claim
that face-up sleeping is the answer to SIDS.
SIDS incidence in Britain (0.7 per
thousand live births) is now 70 percent lower than
1986-88, when it was 2.3 per 1,000. It is slightly
below the rate of about 0.75 per thousand (totaling
about 3,000 a year, on average, around eight
now-avoidable SIDS tragedies every night) in
America, where parents follow advice of health
agencies to varying degrees. As explained below,
there are many more crib deaths on each weekend
night than each weeknight.
The British Limerick Commission
investigated and rejected the toxic gas
hypothesis.[25] When read carefully, state Mr.
Richardson, Dr. Sprott and Dr. Michael
Fitzpatrick,[26] the tests reported in the
commission’s analysis clearly confirm the
hypothesis[27] -- as demonstrated by the success of
proper mattress wrapping and
BabeSafe® (not one crib death).[28] But the
Commission’s final condensed summary, the only
report that citizens and physicians read, did not
accurately state those findings. The commissioners,
who were already biased against the theory, knew
that revealing the truth could subject the British
government to millions of pounds in liability
lawsuits. Such lying for financial reasons, sadly,
is the rule rather than the exception throughout
medicine and science.
The facts sketched out above will
surprise the "experts" who for years shouted "Back
to Sleep." Sleeping face up is a partial solution
because it makes the baby less likely to inhale
heavier-than-air toxic gases generated in the
mattress, and that fact explains the worldwide
decline in SIDS after the "back to sleep" campaign.
But it is far from the total answer, mainly because
babies can also absorb the toxic gases, especially
phosphine, through their skin. Also, phosphine is
only slightly heavier than air, and so a baby can
die from inhaling that gas despite sleeping face
up.[29] Babies have died of SIDS in almost any
position; one died in his mother’s arms.[30] Our
interpretation: when she picked her baby up, he was
already dying from gas exposure.
Ample
Further Evidence Supports the Toxic Gas Explanation.
(a) After near misses, monitors of
breathing and heartbeat confirm the described
sequence of events.[31] And in SIDS autopsies,
evidence of lasting cerebral hypoxia (severe lack of
oxygen in the brain) both before and after birth
corroborates the mechanism.[32] [33] (See proposed
additional mechanism, below.)
(b) The body tissues of crib death
babies and the mattresses on which they died contain
high concentrations of antimony, the source of
stibine gas, whereas bodies of babies who died of
other causes and non-SIDS inducing mattresses
contain little or no detectable antimony.[34] [35]
Remnants of phosphorus and arsenic are always
present in the body naturally, and so tracking them
is not meaningful.[36]
(c) The hair of living babies
contains 10 to 100 times more antimony than their
parents’ hair,[37] demonstrating that they were
exposed to gas generated from their mattresses.[38]
And about 95 percent of 200 consecutive SIDS babies
in a 1989 test sample died on used mattresses.[39]
(d) The decline in SIDS in Britain,
cited above, itself powerfully supports the toxic
gas explanation.
A Proposed
Extension of the Toxic Gas Theory.
Repeated, at times severe, episodes
of hypoxemia (insufficient aeration of arterial
blood) or asphyxia, or both, occur in infants who
are at increased risk for SIDS.[40] [41] Cyanosis,
blue color of lips and nail beds, which is very
common in SIDS victims, results from lack of enough
oxygen.[42]
Hypoxia is an abnormal condition
resulting from a decrease in oxygen supplied to or
utilized by body tissues.[43] Derrick Lonsdale, MD,
calls it hypo-oxidative metabolism; it kills
tissues. "Any cell (except erythrocytes, red blood
cells) made hypoxic for a sufficient period is
irreversibly injured."[44]
"Regarding injury to the brain,
neuroscientists use the terms hypoxia and ischemia
interchangeably ... . [Ischemia is a lack of
oxygen-carrying blood flow in an organ or tissue.]
In local ischemia, cells in the center of the
ischemic zone are damaged most rapidly; cells in the
surrounding fluid (the ischemic penumbra) receive
some oxygen from other blood vessels and thus are
less hypoxic."[45]
The killing of tissue leading to
SIDS can take the form of apoptosis, i.e. programmed
cell suicide, or "cellular hari-kari,"[46] which is
commonly associated with diseases of aging.
Apoptosis wreaks greater damage at higher body
temperatures.[47] That fits our proposal, below,
that inhalation of toxic gases -- concentration of
which is higher with a fever -- initiates apoptosis
possibly leading to crib death. Cells at the center
of the hypoxic area can die, instead, by necrosis,
i.e. rupturing and spilling the cellular contents
into the extracellular fluid.[48]
Karen A. Waters, MD, et al, at
Montreal Children’s Hospital found neuronal
apoptotic cells in 79 percent of 29 SIDS victims
they examined, but in no control cases.[49]
Apoptosis in two to three percent of neurons can
signify a cell regression rate of 25 percent per
day;[50] they found apoptosis in more than 20
percent of such cells, implying rapid cell death.
Dr. Waters continues, "In SIDS victims, neuronal
loss has been reported in the brainstem arcuate
nucleus,[51] a region thought to be involved in
control of respiration ... And we found significant
neuronal apoptosis in the nucleus of the tractus
solitarius, a region involved in autonomic and
respiratory control [i.e. in making breathing an
‘automatic’ process not requiring conscious
control].
"Repeated episodes of hypoxemia
first lead to confirmed neuronal apoptosis in select
vulnerable brain regions. Then comes the
disappearance of a significant number of cells, and
eventually impaired function."[52] Inhalation of
ammonia from the baby’s feces can aggravate
hypoxia/hypoxemia. Ammonia combines with and
inactivates carbon dioxide; the baby needs free CO2
to trigger the breathing reflex.[53]
Dr. Waters’ research team found
evidence of an unidentified serious insult, probably
within 24-48 hours of death. Conventional (Paradigm
1) researchers have long written of hypoxia causing
crib death, but they have not always studied its
sources. We propose that the referenced insult is
inhalation of toxic gases night after night. This
offers a plausible mechanism of death, concurrent
with that presented earlier: interruption of
choline/acetylcholine transfer of nervous impulses
from the brain to the heart and lungs. If this
toxicity destroys the nerve function, the two
explanations become one.
Apoptosis, interestingly, is also an
important homeostatic, health promoting process
during central nervous system development. [54]
Hypoxia also promotes formation of
tiny, electrically imbalanced particles known as
free radicals (also called oxidants). A free radical
is an atom or atom group carrying an unpaired
electron in its outer ring; as a result, free
radicals are unbalanced and highly reactive. They
dart about the body damaging cells; and any molecule
they meet, in turn becomes a free radical,[55]
potentially starting a chain reaction that could
damage tissues and perhaps cause SIDS.
Other free radicals reach our bodies
through toxins in the air, water, and food, or are
generated inside us as part of our defensive
response to infection or other stress. In excess,
they promote diseases of all kinds and aging.[56]
[57] An antioxidant molecule donates an electron so
as to quench a free radical.
All this valuable research is
helpful, but it does not explain the ultimate cause.
As Dr. Sprott points out, what is it that brings all
these conditions about? They do not just happen! The
common thread is the poisoning, and all the symptoms
and findings reported above are completely explained
by gaseous poisoning with a "nerve gas."
The toxic gas explanation therefore
casts new light on poorly understood aspects of
these unmitigated family tragedies. Crib death is
most common in industrialized countries where baby
mattresses contain any of the three listed
chemicals. In countries such as Japan, Hong Kong and
the Pacific Islands, people use for their beds
either chemicals-free cotton or simple woven floor
mats.[58] Fungi are ubiquitous.[59] But without
chemicals to consume -- either artificially added or
naturally present in bedding -- the fungi create no
toxic gases. Preservatives and fire retardants in
Japan use safe boron; SIDS is slowly rising there as
parents adopt Western style mattresses and
bedding.[60]
Toxic gases arise from sheepskins
and other "natural" bedding such as tea-tree bark
fibers, which are widely used throughout Australia
and New Zealand. The New Zealand Cot Death Study,
1987-90, found that half of all crib deaths occurred
on sheepskins.[61] Depending on the soil on which
the sheep graze, their skins can contain phosphorus,
arsenic and/or antimony, often in high
concentration. Tea-tree bark normally contains
phosphorus, since the trees excrete toxins into
their bark.[62]
Recent research, presented for the
first time at the SIDS 2000 conference (Auckland,
New Zealand, February 2000) by professor Bill Cullen
from University of British Columbia, proved the
generation of an arsine from sheepskins containing
arsenic. The sheepskins tested were provided to Dr.
Cullen by Dr. Sprott, who had obtained them from
parents who had lost to SIDS babies sleeping on the
very same sheepskins.
What About
Nutrition?
Poor nutrition has never been proved
to increase SIDS risk, and good nutrition, including
breastfeeding, has not been proved to lower SIDS
risk. Mothers who start bottle-feeding early
typically live in low-income families and re-use
baby mattresses.[63] (Note: Massive intake of
vitamin C to stamp out SIDS -- see later -- was
chemical, not nutritional.)
Proponents of nutritional theories
relate incidence to geographical areas and census
data showing low and high levels of one or more
nutrients. But they have not suggested a realistic
manner in which death would occur: the guillotine,
which does the actual killing. Regions with higher
concentrations of dietary iodine, e.g., appear to
have lower SIDS risk than areas with less dietary
iodine.[64] Similarly, low dietary thiamine has been
blamed.[65] [66] [67] Derrick Lonsdale, MD, halted
babies’ apneas and prevented what he judged to be
inevitable SIDS deaths by supplementing
thiamine.[68] In a letter he told of a baby who
nearly became a SIDS casualty from a slow carbon
monoxide leak, which would have killed but for being
turned off.[69]
Correlation doesn’t prove causation,
and epidemiological findings prove nothing.
Epidemiology is the study of all the elements
contributing to the occurrence or non-occurrence of
a disease in a population. Proof of any nutritional
theory of SIDS would require:
(1) Collection of tissue samples
from SIDS babies and from infants who died of known
causes.
(2) Consistently lower iodine (or
thiamine, etc.) would have to be found in the SIDS
autopsies.
(3) A mechanism would have to be
proposed and supported.
(4) Most difficult: in light of
Peter Mitchell’s findings given earlier, crib death
risk caused by such nutrient deficiency would have
to be consistently twice as high in a mother’s
second baby and twice as high again for her third
baby. In fact, most families maintain their
nutritional practices about constant throughout
their child-rearing years.
(5) And the reason for insufficiency
of a nutrient to cause such upward steps in risk
would have to be proposed and supported.
Poor nutrition tends to accompany
low-income status, and that leads to re-use of
fungus-infected bedding. In California, SIDS
incidence in 1972 ranged from 0.5l among Chinese and
Japanese Americans who consume iodine-rich seaweed,
to 5.93 among Native Americans who ingest little
iodine.[70] [71] One could reason that the incomes
of the Oriental Americans were much higher than the
Native Americans’ and that they therefore didn’t
resort to used baby mattresses.
But then, a U.S. map of SIDS
mortality in 1984 showed incidence at least twice as
high in the Pacific Northwest as in California and
the Pacific Southwest.[72] That would be difficult
to explain on the basis of family incomes. Harold
Foster, PhD, shows that areas of low selenium,
including the Northwest, are areas of high SIDS
risk. There still is no mechanism of killing.
So the explanation advanced by Mr.
Richardson, Dr. Sprott, and Mr. Peter Mitchell, and
our enlargement of the theory do not clarify
everything. But they may explain over 95 percent of
crib deaths.
There can
be exceptions:
(1) Iron overload can "literally
tear apart" babies, both of whose parents have
hemochromatosis.[73] [74] Disease organisms and
cancer microbes feed on iron, a potent catalyst for
generation of extremely damaging free radicals --
and starve without it.[75] And so iron-heavy infant
formulas and iron drops can cause truly sudden death
in event of botulism, which might not otherwise be
serious.[76] [77] High tissue iron concentrations
may also lower resistance to fever and gas-promoting
infection in babies not protected against the gases,
and raise susceptibility to tissue damage throughout
life.[78] This mechanism of killing isn’t related
directly to the nutrient or toxin.
(2) Microwave warming of breast
milk, baby formula and baby food weakens their
infection-protective features, adversely affects the
blood,[79] [80] and could make baby more susceptible
to a given level of toxic gases. Microwaving also
generates free radicals.[81] Resulting fevers would
increase concentration of toxic gases.
(3) Excess sodium or unusually high
concentrations of poorly absorbed manufactured
thiamine, folic acid and vitamin B12[82] [83] have
been found in crib death autopsies. High lead levels
have been reported in blood.[84]
BabeSafe® or proper mattress wrapping would
appear to circumvent each of these possible
mechanisms.
Smoking
Smoke residues from American
cigarettes are "laced with sugar and dupe the gut
into expecting food, triggering insulin
release."[85] (Japanese and South African
cigarettes, among others, do not contain sugar and
toxic additives.[86] [87] The late, renowned
internist and cardiologist Moses M. Suzman, MD, of
Johannesburg confirmed the statement about South
African cigarettes and said that South African
blacks, despite heavily smoking unfiltered
cigarettes, do not develop lung cancer.[88]) The
smoke residues inactivate certain enzymes and induce
peroxidation (formation of excess hydrogen peroxide)
in the baby’s blood plasma,[89] or the cadmium in
cigarette smoke catalyzes oxidation in the babies’
lung tissue when there is a deficiency of vitamin E
and selenium.[90] Either mechanism makes babies more
susceptible to gaseous death if the mattress is
generating the gases.[91] [92]
Maternal smoking associates itself
with higher SIDS risk in not properly protected
shared beds: relative risk was 9.25 (95% confidence
intervals 2.31 to 34.02).[93] (Babies of mothers who
smoked were over nine times likelier to be victims
of SIDS than those of nonsmoking mothers. Confidence
intervals are a statistical refinement.)
BabeSafe® cannot protect babies against other
damage inflicted by cigarette smoke.
In Britain, smoking was much more
common in the 1930s-1940s than now. But crib death
was virtually non-existent, because fire retardant
chemicals weren’t added to mattresses until after
the war. In Russia and Yugoslavia, despite heavy
parental smoking SIDS scarcely exists. Rubber
sheeting and cotton mattresses do not permit toxic
gases to form and reach the baby.[94] Also, Russian
parents have long swaddled babies heavily to keep
them immobile, while they go off to farm or
factory.[95] Such wrapping would increase SIDS risk
through gas generation if the babies were exposed to
it (see below).
The apparent link between smoking
and SIDS is, however, in large part simply an
association. Crib death has a strong socio-economic
bias and so does the incidence of smoking. There is
little if any cause-and-effect association. Smoking
is more prevalent in lower socio-economic groups,
and these people are also more likely to use old,
pre-used mattresses.
The Experts
Reverse Field Again
In 1995, Anne-Louise Ponsonby, PhD,
found that sleeping on the back or side with a quilt
increased SIDS risk nearly fourfold -- supposedly
through smothering. Blankets and pillows "can mold
to baby’s face."[96] So the authorities did another
about-face; they now say to remove bedding from
sleeping areas and dress the baby warmly.[97]
But such overwrapping could multiply
SIDS tragedies in two ways. Smothering is extremely
rare among babies, including those put to sleep face
down. Head turning in sleep is developmentally
regulated even in prematurely born babies; they
rarely assume face down positions.[98] But many
quilts contain phosphorus and/or antimony, and most
are seldom washed. So they can be infested with the
same gas-generating fungi discussed earlier,
increasing risk in that way -- and further
clarifying the report. Also, blankets can trap toxic
gases.[99]
Fever, as well as breathing
crises,[100] created by vaccinations may recur at
predictable intervals,[101] [102] increasing risk on
those days if the mattress is generating the gases.
Among babies sleeping on
BabeSafe® or on a properly wrapped mattress,
however, any fevers from vaccinations do not cause
crib death because these infants are not exposed to
toxic gases. Vaccination practices among the 2½
million Pakeha (Caucasians) in New Zealand are
slightly less, now, than American practice. Many but
not all Pakeha parents use
BabeSafe® or properly wrap mattresses. The crib
death rate is about four times higher among Maori
and Pacific Island families, who vaccinate far less
than the Pakeha.[103] If vaccinations directly
caused crib death, the proportions would be
reversed.
Certain
Factors
(1) Bed sharing with parents, often
called co-sleeping, has always been the typical
sleeping arrangement in countries such as
Bangladesh. SIDS is about one fiftieth as common in
most underdeveloped countries as in rich countries.
Instead of, e.g., 0.1 percent it could be 0.002
percent.[104] In millions of families, parents and
babies sleep together on chemicals-free cotton or
woven floor mats. But in Western countries, adults’
mattresses can contain the same chemicals as their
children’s, and the ubiquitous fungi can generate
the same toxic gases.[105]
(2) Electromagnetic fields (EMFs)
from electric blankets -- even when turned off, but
connected to house circuits -- and other electrical
devices and electric wiring in or near the bedroom
increase incidence of SIDS deaths.[106] [107] This
they probably do by lowering babies’ ability to
survive a given gas concentration, and any resulting
fevers would promote greater gas generation.
Extremely low EMFs and ELFs have also been
designated possible carcinogens.[108]
Many waterbeds, like many babies’
mattresses,[109] are made of polyvinyl chloride,
which often contains phosphorus and antimony -- the
sources, respectively, of toxic phosphine and
stibine gases. They are heated, promoting toxic gas
generation. And they, too, expose the sleeping
parents and baby all night to EMFs.[110]
(3) Geopathic stresses, which are
taken more seriously in China and Europe than in
America, increase incidence of crib death. Magnetic
radiations rising constantly through the earth are
normally benign and promote good health. But on
lines at the surface -- extending upward through
higher levels of buildings -- where these rays have
passed through underground water channels, metal or
oil deposits, caverns, tunnels, etc., the stresses
can be very dangerous.[111] [112] Although only
about 12 inches wide, such stress lines are
estimated to cover perhaps two percent of the
Earth’s surface.
Among more than 25,000 sick European
people who were surveyed, 95 percent of those with
cancer or AIDS, a high proportion of patients with
multiple sclerosis, 95 percent of 3,000
learning-disabled children[113] -- and 80 percent of
babies who died of crib death -- had a single factor
in common: geopathic stress.[114] [115] This
information merits serious consideration by the
medical and teaching professions.
Such stress makes an unprotected
baby more susceptible to toxic gas poisoning by
(a) stimulating physical chemicals
cascades within the brain;[116] [117]
(b) potentially causing mutations in
the cells and damaging the baby’s genetic code,
known as DNA; or
(c) interfering with the
melatonin/nitric oxide system in the baby’s brain,
which controls the cardiovascular system.[118] The
electromagnetic stresses are very tiny; the infant
brain, but not an adult brain, appears to lift their
amplitude in a paroxysmal discharge.[119]
Any of these mechanisms can weaken
immunity. This can lead to fevers, promoting gas
generation in the beds of babies not protected
against gases, and "may explain clusters of infant
deaths over large geographical areas, occurring
during or shortly after successive days of
geomagnetic pulsations."[120] If micropulsations
increase on weekends due to decrease in the cultural
use of power frequencies[121] (fewer industrial
machines operating), the previously mysterious 42
percent higher incidence of crib deaths on Saturdays
and Sundays than on weekdays[122] appears to be
explained.
A baby whose bed is on an earth
stress line will seem unusually crotchety or
constantly creep to one corner of the crib, or both.
Ann-Louise Ponsonby, PhD, and her associates, in a
four-year study of crib deaths in Tasmania
(Australia), found that "infant usually moved a lot
during sleep" brought a relative SIDS risk of
l.7.[123] Dowsing for geopathic stress lines, out of
doors or in any building, is simple[124] but
probably unnecessary: Just move the infant’s bed to
another part of the house, or another side of the
same room.[125] [126]
Other
Factors.
Dr. Sprott emphasizes that
re-breathing of carbon dioxide does not cause SIDS.
All babies exhale CO2. If re-breathing caused crib
death, the rate would be similar in all.
Countries, and would not have
changed throughout mankind's history. CO2 is an
important trigger of respiration,[127] [128] [129]
helping the baby to minimize risk of apnea/hypopnea.
Moreover, all babies exhale a similar amount of CO2,
regardless of whether they are first, second, or
later babies. Therefore, the rising rate of crib
death from one sibling to the next refutes the
theory that rebreathing of CO2 causes crib
death.[130] Researchers who blame re-breathing of
CO2 appear to mistake poisoning by stibine or
phosphine, or both, for asphyxiation by CO2.
More than 90 percent of SIDS babies
have had upper respiratory infections shortly before
death,[131] [132] a far higher proportion than among
controls.[133] Resulting fevers can again promote
gas generation in the beds of babies who are not
protected against the gases; high room temperature
and facedown sleeping increase risk that way too.
Similarly, overdressing -- now officially endorsed
-- creates hyperthermia and traps gases generated in
a baby’s mattress.
Another consideration could
reinforce the above and clarify Ponsonby’s discovery
that blankets and pillows can "mold to baby’s
face."[134] Carpenter and Shaddick found many babies
had died with their mouth and nose covered by
bedding.[135] Another early report told of "signs of
a brief noiseless struggle, such as disturbed
bedclothes and fibers under the fingernails."[136]
And Richardson reported in 1990, "The first symptom
of gas poisoning is headache, which results in
irritability and dislodgment of bedding."[137] The
already dying baby, perhaps sensing he is inhaling
poison, could try to use the covers or pillow as a
gas mask, seeking futilely to protect himself from
-- toxic gases.
SIDS incidence is double in the
parts of Austria above 700 meters altitude compared
to those under 500 meters.[138] And in Sweden,
outdoor temperatures below the annual mean of 5.9oC
(42.6oF) -- primarily in October-February, much more
in unusually cold years -- in combination with a
sudden decrease in temperature, are associated with
SIDS.[139] At colder temperatures, due to either
altitude or weather, parents wrap their babies more
firmly, increasing risk of gas generation and
trapping, probably explaining the finding.[140] The
Swedish report also mentions hyperthermia as a
potential SIDS cause, but without the toxic-gas
mechanism, which explains it.[141]
Crib deaths have been reported after
a mother gave her baby aspirin.[142] The infant
becomes crotchety from a headache caused by the
toxic gases; the aspirin drugs her baby to
death.[143]
Mercury
fillings or dentist-installed root canals
in the mother’s mouth potentially create
infections anywhere in her body[144] and can promote
fever-generating, toxic gas promoting infections in
the baby.[145] [146] Placing or removing mercury
fillings during pregnancy can worsen SIDS risk:
during the procedure the mother inhales and swallows
mercury. Drinking-water fluoridation may increase
risk of Down syndrome and crib death;[147] [148]
perinatal deaths were 15 percent higher in
fluoridated parts of Britain than in unfluoridated
areas.[149] A possible mechanism: fluoride atoms
appear to carry viral particles and increase their
ability to penetrate tissues;[150] this would
increase risk of fevers leading to higher toxic gas
generation.
Shaken Baby
Syndrome
In a near miss resulting from
sublethal gas exposure, or seen after a SIDS death,
inhalation of the toxic gases often causes small red
blotches under the skin known as petechiae. These
can appear after vaccinations as well. In a dozen
cases referenced by Viera Scheibner, PhD, the
vaccine damage has been so severe as to give the
appearance of physical shaking. As a result, parents
have been wrongly accused of smothering or murdering
babies.[151]
One young mother was crushed and
heart-broken after her baby died at 10 days of age
from a birth-caused maladjustment of the neck; upper
cervical vertebrae were out of correct order. The
problem, identified later by a non-physician
analyst, could have been corrected and the baby’s
life saved by a ten-second chiropractic adjustment.
The mother was forced to perjure herself by
confessing murder, and then was imprisoned.[152]
This kind of lawyers’ abuse, doubtless engaged in to
advance their careers, is common. Correctly
recorded, the case would not qualify as "sudden
infant death syndrome."
Recently in the UK, a lawyer mother
was convicted of murdering her two babies, who had
died of crib death. An "expert" told the court the
chances of two crib deaths in one family were about
one in 73 million. What utter rubbish! The only
relevant statistic is the relative risk of a crib
death in a family where there has already been a
crib death: about six to ten times the going crib
death rate. Sometimes, a distraught parent or
caregiver does shake a baby causing fatal injury.
The
Cover-Up
Pursuing their own agendas and
pressured by big-money interests, SIDS researchers
and health authorities in the U.S. and Canada have
suppressed publication of Mr. Richardson’s, Dr.
Sprott’s, and Mr. Mitchell’s research findings.
William Campbell Douglass, MD, outlined the toxic
gas explanation in his monthly Second Opinion.[153]
Why? The editor-in-chief of a
well-known American pediatric journal recently
wrote, "The apnea monitoring business has become a
religion. More people are living off of SIDS than
dying from it."[154] Although proved to be of no
benefit, apnea monitors are still promoted and
widely used, causing needless stress on parents and
baby.[155]
He didn’t mention at least hundreds
of investigators who expensively study risk factors
and propose preventive strategies, while ignoring
toxic gases. They will have difficulty justifying
new grant requests after the cause and preventive
are accepted as what we show they are. Such
technicians admit their findings are worthless,[156]
[157] yet they continue to collect voluntary "Red
Nose" contributions.[158] In New Zealand, though,
Dr. Sprott so discredited the Red Nose Day
collection that it is no longer held. And that
editor-in-chief didn’t mention the SIDS support
groups’ salaried employees.
Now the cover-up has gone
worldwide. The Sixth International SIDS
Conference was held in Auckland, New Zealand in
February 2000. But the program committee totally
ignored Dr. Sprott’s 100% successful crib death
prevention campaign. Eventually they altered the
program timetable to let him speak. His talk ended
in uproar among the delegates, and many walked out
of the hall in a fury. Dr. Sprott was berated by the
chair of the session -- a crib death parent -- who
lost her temper and shouted him down.
On January 26, someone had sabotaged
his web site. Instead of information about toxic
gases and
BabeSafe®, there were two paragraphs. The first
stated the toxic gas hypothesis; the second cited a
failed "refutation" in Human Experimental
Toxicology, written by an unidentified author.
Do those people "living off of SIDS"
really want to prevent the terrible family tragedies
of crib death? They solicit money for conferences,
research programs, and enjoyable trips to nice
places like Auckland at Americas Cup time.
Naturally, they screamed and shouted at Dr. Sprott
in the conference when he presented incontrovertible
proof toxic gases are the cause of crib death. He
was threatening to derail their gravy train. The
previous conference was in the French resort town of
Rouen, and the next will be in Florence, Italy --
all expenses paid, of course.
"We must remember, though, that the
reaction was the same to Semmelweis after he showed
doctors’ failure to wash their hands caused deaths
in childbirth. After Edward Jenner developed an
inoculation for cowpox. After Linus Pauling
elucidated the importance of vitamin C. All were
howled down by the medical orthodoxy of their day,
yet today the discoveries they made are accepted as
fact worldwide."[159]
Dr. Jim Sprott summarizes. "Not only
has the 100% successful five-year practical
application of the toxic gas explanation for crib
death proved that the explanation is correct. It
also explains all the epidemiology, with no
conflict. In other words, it appears to be the total
answer to a problem that has confounded hundreds if
not thousands of researchers for more than 30 years,
at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
"And it was all discovered and
proved by a couple of consulting chemists, entirely
at their own expense. Why chemists and not medicos?
Because crib death has nothing to do with medicine
or pediatrics or even the babies; it is caused by
the babies’ environment. These two environmental
scientists figured it out as soon as they became
interested in the topic."[160]
This killing of babies by poison gas
while concealing the evidence and withholding news
of the 100-percent preventive, despite warnings by
knowledgeable scientists, reminds us of the Nazis’
gas chambers at Auschwitz. Then, the sin was one of
commission. In the present case, omission: failure
to institute a proven life-saving rule.
What About
Residential Fires?
We saw that a 5½-degree (Fahrenheit)
climb in temperature of the mattress and bedding can
increase gas generation 10-fold. Temperatures and
gas generation could increase much more in a fire;
how much higher the concentration would rise depends
on the ability of the fungi to survive high
temperatures. The gases might kill a baby even
before flames reach his room.
When inserting fire retardant
chemicals into babies’ mattresses causes death in
home fires and through SIDS, why do chemical
companies continue to do it? Could this be -- like
chlorination and fluoridation of drinking water, and
like placement of toxic mercury in millions of
people’s mouths -- a profitable way to dispose of
excess waste materials using people as garbage cans,
rather than pay for proper destruction of the
wastes? After this article and our book properly and
fully expose all this, will chemical companies dare
continue these practices in the face of potential
class action lawsuits?
And as we said earlier, SIDS is
unusual in Japan, where preservatives and fire
retardants use boron. Can’t mattress-makers
substitute safe boron for the three materials from
which dangerous gases are generated?
Mass vaccinations increase SIDS
risk among babies who are not protected from toxic
gases, and create worse lifetime health.[161]
[162] [163] In large parts of Australia, "routine
immunization campaigns" in the early 1970s tripled
infant mortality to the genocidal level of about 500
per thousand, of which a "high" proportion was crib
death.[164] Yet vaccines are only an indirect SIDS
risk factor for babies who are exposed to the toxic
gases, and not at all a risk factor for babies not
so exposed. Vaccines themselves probably kill some
babies. Many deaths in the first month of life after
DPT vaccinations are automatically labeled
SIDS;[165] no count is kept. Including them, the
total SIDS incidence is higher than officially
reported. DPT is diphtheria/pertussis (whooping
cough)/tetanus.
But those who blame vaccines for
SIDS have ignored toxic gases, or rejected the
theory after study.[166] In general, vaccinated
babies die or become deathly sick because,
unprotected against these gases, the vaccine-created
fevers increase generation of the gases -- both
immediately and at known intervals afterward.[167]
Also, the infections can lower babies’ tolerance of
any given concentration of gases. Vaccinations also
increase toxic gas exposure and SIDS indirectly --
again for babies not protected against the toxic
gases -- by weakening immunity and increasing
fever-generating diseases including asthma. As do
antibiotics.
The death rate from the disease
hepatitis B for unvaccinated American children is
about 5 x 10-7; deaths immediately after hep B
vaccination are about 6 x 10-5 -- about 120 times
higher. And vaccination side effects (including
SIDS-promoting fevers) requiring emergency treatment
or hospitalization are 20-fold higher than those
causing death; similar hep B debilitations are about
10-fold higher than the hep B death rate. Moreover,
adverse reactions appear to be vastly underreported;
formal long-term studies of vaccine safety have not
been started, let alone completed.[168] Regardless
of this far higher threat -- even greater, if
unreported or unrecognized side effects are
considered -- from the vaccine as compared to the
illness, hepatitis B vaccinations are
"automatically" given to newborns in American
maternity wards. And they are required for admission
to many public schools.[169] All this in a battle
against a disease to which children are not at risk.
For genetically vulnerable children,
the live-virus MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) vaccine,
used since 1977, appears to promote autism. Twelve
children had GI (gastrointestinal) problems but were
otherwise progressing normally; they became autistic
one to 16 days after MMR.[170] A complex web of
reactions in the gut including "leaky gut" makes the
brain "leaky" too.[171] [172] The so-called blood
brain barrier -- which scarcely exists in fetal life
-- derives from the same embryonic origin as the gut
epithelium, where 60 percent of the body’s immune
cells operate. Even in later life, it doesn’t
protect the brain nearly as well as was long
thought; it can be modulated in an ongoing way to
respond to environmental stimuli.[173] [174]
Andrew Wakefield, MD, the
conventional British gastroenterologist who
published this research feels he cannot turn back,
despite heavy medical and public health resistance
and reprisals. Reprisals commonly consist of denial
of future research grants. A seemingly low-grade,
long-term immune reaction precedes the devastating
condition, autism.[175] Moreover, movement analysis
has now enabled diagnosis of autism in children
three to four months old,[176] long before the age
of 15 months when MMR vaccines are administered --
and well within the age of susceptibility to SIDS.
There is another side to autism; see Appendix at the
end of this document.
Massive doses of ascorbic acid
prevented crib death for about 25 years with or
without vaccinations in the practice of
Frederick M. Klenner, MD, of Reidsville, North
Carolina.[177] [178] Archie Kalokerinos, MD,
accomplished the same feat in outback New South
Wales, Australia.[179] After worldwide appeals, no
baby given the Kalokerinos/Klenner regimen (health
program) is known to have died.[180] The acidity of
ascorbic acid in the baby’s urine, sweat, dribble,
etc., appears to counteract the alkalinity that the
ubiquitous fungi require in the babies’ beds for
toxic gas generation.[181]
And so the treatment was chemical,
not nutritional. Sadly, aboriginal babies who are
vaccinated and treated with Western drugs, and
aren’t protected from the toxic gases, are again
dying "suddenly." But certain doctors around
Australia prevent SIDS, attention deficits, and
short-term "side effects" by dosing with ascorbic
acid for two weeks before, on the day of, and for
two weeks after vaccinations.[182] This does not, of
course, prevent long-term harm of vaccines. Ascorbic
acid is one important segment of the natural vitamin
C-complex.
Dr. Lendon
Smith offers his counsel: Wise parents
will consider avoiding vaccinations, or at least
postponing shots until baby is a year old, when SIDS
risk drops. "The best advice I can give to parents
is to forgo the shots, but make sure that the
children in your care have a superior immune system.
This requires a sugarless diet without processed
foods, and an intake of vitamin C of about 1,000
milligrams per day for each year of life up to 5,000
mgs at age five. Plenty of fruits and vegetables are
important, plus powdered, dried fruits and
vegetables picked when ripe and flash frozen. They
have the protective anti-oxidants." Developmental
pediatrician Mary Megson, MD, adds low-dose cod
liver oil, as we saw, for natural-source vitamin A
before MMR if parents choose to accept the
vaccination, to lower the risk of developing
autism.[183]
"And," continues Dr. Smith, "if you
as a parent are unable to ward off the pressure from
your doctor, at least give your child some
fortifying nutrients the day before, the day of, and
the day after the shot: vitamin C, one to two grams;
vitamin B6, 100 mgs; and calcium, 1,000 mgs. You are
the guardian of your child’s health. You have some
rights."[184]
Sidebar: American parents in all
states but two (West Virginia and Mississippi) can
have their children excused from "immunizations,"
including hepatitis B administered at birth. Visit
Joseph Mercola, DO’s web site at www.mercola.com;
Parents who are not themselves connected to the
Internet may be able to reach the web site at their
local library.
Children given three or more courses
of antibiotics in the first year of life when SIDS
risk is high had a 400 percent increase in their
long-term risk for asthma. Among babies who are not
protected against toxic gases, fever-promoting
asthma elevates risk of SIDS. The asthma risk
decreased to 225% if only one or two courses of
antibiotics were given in the first year, and 64% in
those for whom antibiotics were used only after the
first year.[185] [186] Also, children given more
than 20 cycles of antibiotics over their lifetime
are 50% more likely than others to suffer
developmental delays including autism and speech and
language problems.[187]
Pediatricians administer these drugs
to children mostly to cure fever-creating inner-ear
infections (otitis media, OM). Not only are
antibiotics unsuccessful against such usually viral
infections,[188] [189] they do not allow the child
to develop his immune system; they weaken immunity,
promote development of resistant organisms, and
further OM itself.[190] Tubes in ears have been
called "barbarism."[191]
Moreover, 75-80 percent of these
infections -- the fevers of which promote gas
generation and risk of crib death among unprotected
babies -- may result from allergies and food
hypersensitivities[192] typically incited by
pasteurized, homogenized cow milk or wheat.[193]
[194] Such reactions can have other causes; among
these are traumatic emotional episodes[195] and
habitual overbreathing, which can also cause asthma.
Learned correct breathing can often cure the asthma
and sometimes dispatches allergies, among many other
health problems.[196]
Still another factor: Researchers in
Edinburgh, Scotland, found that infants less than
six months old who lived in homes with air
fresheners experienced 30 percent more ear
infections (and also 22 percent more episodes of
diarrhea) than babies not so exposed. From the air
freshener they inhaled volatile organic compounds
such as aldehydes, xylene and ketones.[197]
The EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency) worsens SIDS risk in at least two ways: (a)
The agency has a phobia about ultraviolet light and
warns people to avoid any direct exposure; but in
fact, moderate sun exposure promotes good
health.[198] A healthy baby, with fewer infections,
will be less likely to suffer fevers that could
promote toxic gas generation unless protected
against the gases.
(b) The Surgeon General and the EPA
promote reduction of radon gas in homes. Risk of
lung cancer is related to radon concentration, but
the correlation is negative: more radon, less lung
cancer and presumably lower risk of SIDS among
babies unprotected against toxic gases.[199] The
same relationship, known as hormesis -- which has
been revolutionizing health physics for the past 50
years -- applies to small intakes of pesticide
residues and the like.[200]
And so, with some exceptions,
pediatricians and the authorities that promote and
urge mass vaccinations and other unwise measures --
unintentionally increasing crib death -- join
chemical companies as the devils of the piece.
APPENDIX.
Developmental pediatrician Mary
Megson, MD, greatly strengthens autistic children’s
condition, using a variety of treatments including,
most importantly, the RDA level of natural source
vitamin A in cod liver oil. (Natural cod liver oil
also supplies important omega-3 essential fatty
acids and vitamin D.) After starting this single
supplement, many aphasic children start talking,
begin to exhibit more socially appropriate behavior,
and experience other health benefits.[205] A variety
of other researchers study specific areas of
nutrition, digestion and toxicity; all those
"causes" are secondary or tertiary matters resulting
from the children’s extreme toxicity levels.[206]
THE INFANT SURVIVAL GUIDE. Protecting Your Baby from
the Dangers of Crib Death, Vaccines and Other
Environmental Hazards, by the same authors
presents the content of this article and much more,
in greater depth, in easier language, and with many
more supporting references. We have sought to create
the definitive guide to ending the terrible tragedy
of crib death. To maintain objectivity, the authors
of this paper and our book neither receive nor need,
nor would we accept, research funding of any kind.
Copyright © 2000 by Joseph G.
Hattersley
7031 Glen Terra Court SE
Olympia, WA 98503-7119 - (360)
491-1164
hattersleyjoseph@hotmail.com or
hattersleyjoseph@gateway.net
Dr. Lendon Smith, MD -
lsmith13@uswest.net
Note: This
document presents research information; it should
not be construed as medical advice.
Originally published in the
Townsend Letter for
Doctors and Patients Aug/Sept, 2000
This article summarizes the book
The Infant Survival Guide: Protecting Your Baby from
the Dangers of Crib Death, Vaccines and Other
Environmental Hazards, by the same authors. It
is currently being published by Smart Publications,
Petaluma, CA.
Policies
Returns:
Babe Safe Mattress Covers purchased through this web
site come with a 100% money back Guarantee.
Return anytime within 6 months of the purchase day
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Disclaimer
The Cause of SIDS .com
presents research information; it should not be
construed as medical advice. We believe "SIDS"
Cot Death to be caused by the babies environment!
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