Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Economic Recession

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Tim Titolo

When someone forcefully shakes a baby, the child's head moves uncontrollably because the neck muscles aren't well developed and provide little support.  EACH YEAR, THOUSANDS OF YOUNG children suffer brain injury or die from being violently shaken. Children as old as 5 are vulnerable to shaken-baby syndrome (SBS), but infants between 2 and 4 months are especially at risk.

Time Magazine recently reported that the stressful effects of a faltering economy, skyrocketing unemployment and precarious personal finances can be dire. People take up smoking or use alcohol to cope, they become depressed or suicidal, and they develop stress-related illnesses like heart disease. Now researchers report that the harm may be spreading to children too, when parents' stress leads them to inadvertently injure their children.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1986500,00.html#ixzz0n4NnGujJ

1.  The injuries may cause permanent disabilities such as blindness, seizures, mental retardation and cerebral palsy.

2.  Even if the shaking was not intended to injure the baby, it is child abuse. Also, when a baby is shaken its head may hit an object.

3.  Even a soft object can cause injury to newborns and small infants.

4.  Since their heads are large and heavy in proportion to their bodies and the skulls fragile, the shaking also causes whiplash.

5.  Researchers found that in more than 60 per cent of these cases the victims are boys.

 6.  The perpetrators are more likely to be men, either the caregiver or boyfriend of the mother.

 7.  Often, she adds, parents are not aware that their child has been abused and seek help only when they notice mild or severe symptoms such as decreased alertness, extreme irritability, lethargy, poor feeding, vomiting, loss of vision, seizures, and pale or bluish skin. Since there are no visible signs of injury the condition can be difficult to diagnose and may not be identified during a visit to a doctor.

8.  Injuries such as rib fractures however, can be seen with an X-ray.

9.  An estimated 1,200 to 1,400 cases of SBS occur each year in the United States.

10.  Some of these involve young, unmarried mothers with little education and who come from unstable family situations, or mothers who have had multiple pregnancies. 

Carole Jenny, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Director, Child Protection Program, Hasbro Children's Hospital, published a relevant book entitled CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT in 2010.

Key Features include how to:

-Identify an abusive injury and treat it effectively by reviewing evidence and critical analyses from leading authorities in the field.

-Recognize the signs of shaken baby syndrome, sex offenders and abuse in religious organizations.

-Understand the biomechanics of injury to determine whether abuse was truly the cause of a child's injury.

-View illustrations that show first-hand examples of child abuse or neglect. 

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Sarah Jane Project

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Tim Titolo

The Sarah Jane Project concerns pediatric traumatic brain injury from shaken baby syndrome. 

Shaken baby syndrome is a type of inflicted traumatic brain injury that happens when a baby is violently shaken.  A baby has weak neck muscles and a large, heavy head.  Shaking makes the fragile brain bounce back and forth inside the skull and causes bruising, swelling, and bleeding, which can lead to permanent, severe brain damage or death.  The characteristic injuries of shaken baby syndrome are subdural hemorrhages (bleeding in the brain), retinal hemorrhages (bleeding in the retina), damage to the spinal cord and neck, and fractures of the ribs and bones.  These injuries may not be immediately noticeable.  Symptoms of shaken baby syndrome include extreme irritability, lethargy, poor feeding, breathing problems, convulsions, vomiting, and pale or bluish skin.  Shaken baby injuries usually occur in children younger than 2 years old, but may be seen in children up to the age of 5.

I was asked to pass this on on behalf of Jessica York and her work with The Brain Project.

This Saturday is Patrick's 39th birthday and we want to do something very special for Sarah Jane's dad. As you know, Patrick named the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation after his adorable 4-year-old daughter who was shaken by her baby nurse when she was only 5 days old, causing a severe brain injury. Since he started it two years ago, the foundation has quickly galvanized the pediatric brain injury community into action across the country and around the world. What you may not know is Patrick is a single dad with sole custody of his little girl. What’s more, he gave up his salary from his consulting firm more than a year ago to devote all his energy, time and personal resources to advancing the foundation's efforts. We are organizing a surprise for him in the same vein as his favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life!" where Jimmy Stewart's character receives support from all over recognizing his efforts. We would like you to be part of this wonderful surprise and make a generous donation as a birthday present to this amazing father.

Sarah Jane is a beautiful little girl, but because of her brain injury she still can't do most of the things other children her age are doing. She can't say "I love you, Daddy." She can't finger paint a picture or even scribble on a Birthday card for him. She can't give him a hug or a kiss. But you can help us give Patrick a gift that will help make sure one day Sarah Jane will be able to do all those things. Patrick has moved mountains, reinvented the wheel, and gone the distance for his daughter and he believes with every fiber of his being that Sarah Jane will one day be able to say "I love you, Daddy."

His exhaustive efforts have launched The National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (PABI) Plan and the largest-ever medical and educational collaboration on behalf of brain-injured children, but these are only the first steps on a long road that needs continued work and support (below is a summary of this year's accomplishments). In honor of his amazing example of fatherly devotion every single day, we are hoping that together we can honor Patrick by donating to the foundation that means so much to him. From now until Saturday, you can donate directly to the special Happy Birthday PayPal account and include a special note to Patrick. Sarah Jane can't tell Patrick what a good father he is - but you can!

We want to surprise Patrick with this, so on Saturday we're going to print all the notes and put them in a big birthday card for him, along with one big check made out to the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation that's the total of everyone's birthday donations. As Patrick likes to say, "Every dollar makes a difference; every $1,000 makes a thousand differences!" So please be generous. If you would prefer to make your tax-deductible donation with an actual check, please overnight it to: The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, 339 Fifth Avenue - Suite 405, New York NY 10016, and mark the envelope to my attention (Jessica York).

Here is the special birthday PayPal link (Patrick won't see it until Saturday): https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10563509.

2009 Accomplishments of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation (yes, we got all of this done in one year):

· Developed an Advisory Board with over 200 doctors, lawyers and researchers from just about every major medical institution (from MD Anderson and Johns Hopkins to Mayo Clinic and Mount Sinai) and research university (from Harvard and Yale to UCLA and NYU)

· In January, this Advisory Board developed the first-ever National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan (PABI Plan) which creates a seamless, standardized, evidence-based system of care, universally accessible for all PABI families regardless of where they live in the country

· This spring we completed a 12-city American PABI Heroes Tour in which we traveled across the country (11,000 miles in two weeks) raising awareness about PABI, raising money for local PABI families and bringing together talented and philanthropic musicians to support these PABI families (Boston, New York, D.C., Raleigh, Atlanta, Miami, Birmingham, Columbus, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles)

· On June 5 (Sarah Jane’s 4th birthday) we announced the largest healthcare collaboration in U.S. history dealing with PABI (one institution in every state plus D.C. and Puerto Rico was selected to be our State Lead Center, i.e., Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School in MA, Kennedy Krieger/Johns Hopkins in MD, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital in CT, Mayo Clinic in MN, University of Virginia in VA, etc.)

· On August 18 we announced the largest grant proposal in U.S. history dealing with PABI (a $930 million multi- department proposal to begin funding the PABI Plan)

· On October 13 the PABI Act of 2009 was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives which has Congress endorsing the PABI Plan and encouraging federal, state and local governments to begin implementing it (H. Con. Res. 198 currently has close to 90 co-sponsors and is almost ready for passage)

· On November 17-18 we held the first-ever National PABI Legal Conference to develop a National Legal Advocacy Organization to serve as a legal advocate for the millions of PABI families across the country

· This past month The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation "went Global" by adding experts from around the world to its renamed International Advisory Board and launched The International Mind, Brain, Health and Education Initiative with Harvard University

For more details about these accomplishments, please visit our website www.TheBrainProject.org. As we come to the end of 2009, please consider a generous tax-deductible donation. Every 23 seconds in the United States, another person sustains a brain injury - it is the #1 cause of death and disability for children and young adults in the United States! (As a reference point, the total number of cumulative cases of autism is 560,000 - compared to the 3 million NEW cases of brain injury that occur each year!) Have a wonderful and safe holiday season and a Happy and Healthy 2010!

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