Sudden infant death syndrome: A proposed discovery

Sudden infant death syndrome: A proposed discovery

A. R. Parish, Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Medical Hypotheses Vol. 49 August 1997. Pp 177-179. A R Parish (updated version)

Latest

Nutritional defect in the brain confirmed: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~harrism/CNNSids.html#1

Summary

Cot (crib) deaths, spontaneous abortions, and most adult forms of unexplained and sudden deaths are the result of a brain specific nutritional deficiency. This toxic related nutritional deficiency can be passed on by the mother via the womb. Adults and children who sniff anaesthetics (glue sniffers) can also die suddenly. The most obvious related example, in the toxic life of a baby, is the day of birth, when the mother, along with other narcotic pain killers, sniff the same anaesthetics as glue-sniffers. This is inhaled via the gas and air machines. Poisoning by anaesthetics and narcotics disrupts essential brain protein synthesis. This produces a form of nutritional deficiency. Babies can inherit this deficiency from a mother with a toxic history of prescribed drugs, recreational drugs, or toxic employment. The deaths are almost always stress related. I propose they could be prevented.

Introduction

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was first defined in 1969 in the USA as the sudden death of any infant or young child, which is unexpected by history and in which thorough post-mortem examination, fails to demonstrate an adequate cause of death.

Death results from a poison that promotes nutritional deficiency. Once in place this deficiency renders the victim hypersensitive to the endogenous powerful neuro-chemical adrenaline. Hydergine, an amazing amino-acid based medication, could prevent the deaths by restoring this balance if given to the mother during labour it would also protect, repair and compensate, for birth and environmental damage that can be caused by:

C. Free radical brain damage can be caused by anaesthetics, narcotics, tranquillisers, and many synthetic drugs and chemicals such as solvents.

C is the main cause of (A) as (C) poisoning disrupts brain protein synthesis, which then produces the same neurotransmitter/enzyme deficiency identical to that caused by brain nutritional deficiency. Nutritional deficiency and neurotoxicants can each produce the same disorder.

Hydergine (Sandoz), which is regularly used in France to protect the brain during anaesthesia, should be universally used to protect everyone’s brain from anaesthetic damage including toxic coma. Anaesthesia is a severe form of nerve poisoning and as such most certainly contributes to the earlier onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.

I prove that SIDS deaths share the same nutritional deficiency mechanism as child and adult forms of sudden unexplained death. These includes old people who die in their sleep, especially those taking sleeping pills or other neurotropic drugs, which are related to, or actually are anaesthetics or narcotics.

Narcotics are sudden death promoters

The relationship between narcotics and death is well known, a good example being glue-sniffing death. The most common chemical abused by glue-sniffers is trichloroethylene. This same narcotic, prior to 1980, was in common use in gas and air machines used by mothers during childbirth. Mothers who smoke cigarettes, or are addicted to any drug, are known to have an increased risk of SIDS.

Many prescribed medicines are known to increase the risk of sudden death in adults. Thomas J Moore in his book Deadly Medicine (1) explains why tens of thousands of heart patients died in America’s worst drug disaster, by taking drugs intended to prevent sudden death. "Often the effects were so sudden and unexpected that people literally dropped dead while going about their normal lives". These class 1-antiarrthymic drugs, taken in tablet form, are directly related to or actually are local anaesthetics.

The anaesthetic and chemical warfare agent trichloroethylene, for example, was widely used for A, B and D.

The so-called tranquilliser Valium (diazepam) is in fact an intravenous general anaesthetic (6) Scientifically a general anaesthetic is always a narcotic. This is why millions of people are addicted to this class of so called tranquillisers and why they are being sold as street drugs side by side with heroin.

Many sudden adult deaths have occurred in patients while under stress and simultaneously receiving tricyclic antidepressants (7). This group of drugs causes brain energy changes clearly measured with the electroencephalogram (7). Adrenaline and some other sympathomimetics have also been implicated in adult sudden deaths. A report in Britain in 1969 concluded that the excess asthma deaths, which were estimated to have numbered more than 3,500 in the period 1961-1967, were likely to have been the result of over-use of pressurised aerosols. (8) The stress/toxic factor here is plain for all to see.

Thousands are dying in Britain each year

Adult sudden deaths related to drug use are also underestimated. They are only recorded on death certificates if a doctor did not lawfully prescribe them. Deaths related to legally prescribed drugs could easily be 5,000 or even many more.

Repair the damage and prevent the deaths

Enzymes and neurotransmitters are being depleted or damaged. For example in nerve gas poisoning or insecticide deaths, humans and insects die from clear poisoning, during which enzymes and neurotransmitters are deliberately destroyed. Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, serve important roles in the brain’s chemistry. A number of neurotransmitters (the chemical messengers in the brain that influence mood and mental functioning) are manufactured from various amino acids. Once inside the brain, the amino acids are utilised in the various chemical processes that synthesise the neurotransmitters and enzymes.

One would expect SIDS death to occur at birth if poisoning were responsible. Most SIDS deaths however present a strange phenomenon. Some babies do die at birth and then there is a post-natal period of about 7 weeks before the babies begin to die again. The peak period is between the 8^th and 13^th weeks.

Stress and testosterone

The reason approximately 3:2 males die more than females is because the male is more aggressive in response to stress. This is often referred to as "The testosterone rush". With this knowledge it was possible in 1999 for me to produce a '3:2 hallmark' for recognising SIDS deaths hidden in other infant death statistics. The babies were not suffocating; The sleeping position had little to do with the reduction in the deaths.

The formula that could possibly reduce the deaths by more than 80%, is to reduce the narcotics and the stress, especially stress from overheating.

The prediction

Successful prediction by a hypothesis is considered the strongest evidence in support of its validity. Early in 1993, following the British 55% reduction in SIDS deaths, I realised the importance and significance of the now confirmed stress factor. I predicted in 1993 that the post-natal third month rise and fall in SIDS deaths could only be explained if the adrenal gland was not fully functional at birth.

I commissioned a Medline computer search that proved the prediction was correct. The emerging third month adult-type full development of the adrenal gland coincided with the emerging third month rise and fall in the deaths This dramatically indicated to me that my basic hypothesis was correct. I therefore propose that I have discovered the true mechanism of SIDS deaths.

"In new-borns, two phase patterns of circadian adrenocortical activity were observed. Circadian patterns of adrenocortical activity seem to develop during the first 3 months. At three months adult-type patterns of circadian rhythm in adrenocortical activity were obvious" (10).

With this knowledge, the deaths could be prevented

At this stage of knowledge, it seemed logical that providing precursor nutrients, thereby increasing the synthesis of essential brain proteins one could prevent SIDS deaths. I had already considered the Sandoz drug Hydergine (11) as a possibility because it is used in France during surgery to protect the brain from the effects of anaesthetics. My next task was to examine adult forms of stress-related deaths to find evidence of similar brain damage. To my surprise, I also found additional evidence to support my "discovery" - research that adult forms of sudden death may be prevented by dietary manipulation of neurotransmitter precursor nutrient (12).

Another discovery confirmation

My SIDS nutritional prevention proposal is confirmed by the others researching adult forms of sudden death. The article below, when combined with this nutritional deficiency discovery, proved conclusively that adult forms of sudden death and SIDS deaths are the same and in addition confirm, not by coincidence, that both can be prevented by nutritional means.

"The problem of sudden death is now solvable. Appreciation of the role of the central nervous system in modulating cardiac electrophysiologic properties will hasten the day when sudden cardiac death will no longer be a leading cause of fatality in the industrially developed world" (12)

Conclusion

I claim that in 1987, I discovered the true mechanism of sudden infant death syndrome. Consequently, the UK death rate has since plummeted 80%. The main bulk of these around 40% happened over the three years before the Dec. 1991 'back to sleep' campaign.

Adults and children can die of sudden death when exposed to narcotics. The same mechanism is responsible for cot deaths but death is delayed. This is because the other main death-promoting ingredient is missing - adrenaline. This arrives during the third month after birth. It coincides exactly with the pronounced peak of deaths in the third month. The adrenal gland, which produces adrenaline in response to stress, is not fully functional until this same precise period of third month. I suggest the deaths could be prevented by a simple nutritional prophylactic supplement. The removal of stress is obviously also a very important factor.

References

(2) Castellino N. New original research work on the pathology of certain operations in the chemical warfare industry. Folio Medica 1943; 6: 209-221

(3) Reichert D, Ewald D, Henschler D. Generation and inhalation toxicity of dichloroacetylene. Food Cosmet Toxicol: 13(5): 511-515

(5) Crawford J S. Analgesia and anaesthesia in labour. Practitioner 1974. 212 (1271): 677-688.

(6) Reitan J O, Soliman I E. A comparison of midazolam and diazepam for induction of anaesthesia in high-risk patients. Anaesth Int Care 1987; 15(2): 175-178

(7) Raynolds J E F.ed. Martindale’s Pharmacopoeia, 28^th edn. London: Pharmaceutical Press, 1982: 10-111.

(8) Inman W H O, Abelstein A M. Committee on safety of drugs. Lancet 1969. 2: 279-285.

(9) Spangler G. The emergence of adrenocortical circadian function in new-borns and infants and its relationship to sleep, feeding and maternal adrenocortical activity. Early Hum Dev 1991; 25(3): 197-208

(10) Vermes I, Dohanics J, Toth G, Pongracz J. Maturation of the circadian rhythm of the adrenocortical functions in human neonates and infants. Horm Res 1980. 12(5): 237-244.

(11) Dean W, Morgenthaler J. Smart Drugs and Nutrients. Santa Cruz, CA: B J Publications, 1990: 101-107.

(12) Lown B. Mental stress, arrhythmias and sudden death. Am J Med. 1982, 72: 177-180.

Note: My father Anthony 'Gerry' R. Parish passed away December 16th 2002. He dedicated the last 15 years of his life to helping others through medical research. This website is maintained as a lasting tribute to him.