Saturday, January 22, 2011

Never Shake A Baby!

This has gone on for a long time, as long as we have had babies? When will it end?
Will we learn from our family stories? Will our posterity learn from our stories?

Shaken Baby Syndrome is something we have all probably heard about, and hopefully not had firsthand experience with. Infant brains and skulls, and neck muscles are not like those of adults. The skull is not fully ossified (hard and protective of the brain). The brain is not even as firm as set Jello (as normal adult brains are). The neck muscles are not strong enough to support the head, and especially not able to stabilize the head from sudden movements. The human brain grows most of its size by age 2; that is why babies have proportionally larger heads than adults. The brain has high water content. Imagine a glass of water sloshing its contents when shaken.

The anatomy of the brain in the skull is in a little better shape than water just in a glass. The cerebral cortex and brain stem are covered by dura mater (grey matter). It is like a membrane enveloping the brain and it is attached to the skull. There is a space under the dura mater before you get to the arachnoid, which directly covers the cerebral cortex. It is kind of like wearing an under shirt (arachnoid) that is next to your skin (cerebral cortex), and your outer shirt (dura mater), and then you put on your coat (skull) for protection from the cold. Under normal circumstances this all works great. Blood vessels and nerves go through that space (sinuses) and keep the blood flowing smoothly (oxygen, cooling, etc.), with very little stress on them. It reminds me of the spokes of a bicycle wheel, only in 3-D, and these nerves and blood vessels are not so rigid as the spokes of the wheel. Granted, those lines (the blood vessels and nerves) are not exactly having to suspend the whole brain in the skull…. But imagine your bicycle wheel - if something put extraordinary torque on the axle from the side, or even up & down, or twisting – Do you see it? The spokes break a few at first, and then catastrophe!

This is what goes on inside the skull with the brain when a baby is shaken violently back and forth. We have seen the crash dummy videos demonstrating how seatbelts can help keep a person inside the car, and how air bags can lessen the impact in a crash. In a baby’s skull the blood vessels and nerves were never meant to be seat belts – they rupture. Bleeding and fluid buildup might act like an airbag, but you cannot function with the airbag deployed; that in itself is a hazard – that pressure on the brain causes injuries. Back and forth shaking can stretch and tear the nerve tissue that runs up and down the baby’s neck – the nerves that carry the instructions from the medulla for the diaphragm to breathe and the heart to keep beating. Babies are taken to Emergency Rooms primarily because they stop breathing, or are turning blue. CPR is not a cause of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Babies who are examined because of suspected abuse have the diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome confirmed by an inspection of the retinas in the back of the eyes. Eyeballs are filled with fluid and, like the fluid-dynamic action of the brain, are highly affected by sudden changes in inertia and direction. Tearing of the membranes, supply vessels and optic nerves show in surviving babies with special equipment, or in autopsies. “Retinal hemorrhages are seen in 70-85% of abusive head injuries.” (1)

Lesions on the cerebral cortex from the trauma all over the surface of the brain, deprivation of oxygen and build up of toxins from dead brain cells deteriorating because of Shaken Baby Syndrome cause surviving babies all kinds of problems. “The signs and symptoms seen are mild to severe, on a continuum from a “low-dose” of shaking/impact to a “high-dose” of shaking/impact and severe craniocerebral injury and may run the gamut from decreased responsiveness, poor feeding, irritability, lethargy and hypotonia [low muscle tone and strength] to convulsions, vomiting, tachypnea [rapid , shallow breathing], hypothermia [abnormally low body temperature], bradycardia [slow and irregular heart beat], coma, fixed dilated pupils to death.” (2)

“In comparison with accidental traumatic brain injury in infants, shaken baby injuries have a much worse prognosis. Damage to the retina of the eye can cause blindness. The majority of infants who survive severe shaking will have some form of neurological or mental disability, such as cerebral palsy or mental retardation, which may not be fully apparent before 6 years of age. Children with shaken baby syndrome may require lifelong medical care. “ (3)

NEVER SHAKE A BABY!

(1) http://www.dontshake.org/sbs.php?topNavID=3&subNavID=25&navID=281

(2) http://www.dontshake.org/sbs.php?topNavID=3&subNavID=25&navID=283

(3) http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shakenbaby/shakenbaby.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li5nMsXg1Lk&feature=player_embedded

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

It's your heart, stupid

That's not a very good title for a blog post, but that's how I feel. I have just come out of our Chorus class at the community college. A fellow from the tenor section asked me about humming Mull of Kintyre last week, and we talked about other Scotish songs. I am crying now, here at the keyboard at school.... Y'know, it's something you think you have under control, but when something touches your heart - good thing I kind of know how to type, because I can't see.... Something touches your heart and you cannot deny it, nor keep it in. I feel like my ancestor William Duncan, who has been a brick wall to me - is urging me to begin again to look for him and his roots in Scotland. I am going to make some shortbread tonight. My neighbor has paid me back some butter, & I know that I have a recipe on my computer at home. I remember watching a clip from the movie, "Far and Away" (Tom Cruise) in a class on genealogy, and how that touched my heart, but I didn't know what to do with that feeling. Place does have an influence on us, on shaping our character, on being a comfort for our heart. I am grateful for the earth, for its service to the family of man in hosting us to learn and grow. I don't want to be stupid and ignore the teachings for my heart. ET, phone home.

Land records are a tremendous source for geenalogical information. Owning land was a very big deal. Not every one owned land, nor could own land. Thank goodness for the good records that do survive. Follow the money? Inheritance of land represents very important issues with kinship. We feel strongly about where we are from, and making our mark upon the land. My husband built a rock cairn, with a cement cast of a fish in it. I wonder if it is still standing. Google Earth? Leaving your mark in land records is a big accomplishment. For women to do it is a very big deal. Thanks to keepers, transcribers and posters of land records; and especially to arbiters and the law! Family Home.

From Mull of Kintyre - Paul McCartney/Laine

MULL OF KINTYRE,
OH, MIST ROLLING IN FROM THE SEA.
MY DESIRE IS ALWAYS TO BE HERE,
OH, MULL OF KINTYRE.

FAR HAVE I TRAVELLED AND MUCH HAVE I SEEN,
DARK DISTANT MOUNTAINS WITH VALLEYS OF GREEN.
PAST PAINTED DESERTS, THE SUNSET'S ON FIRE
AS HE CARRIES ME HOME TO THE MULL OF KINTYRE.

SWEEP THROUGH THE HEATHER LIKE DEER IN THE GLEN,
CARRY ME BACK TO THE DAYS I KNEW THEN.
NIGHTS WHEN WE SANG LIKE A HEAVENLY CHOIR
OF THE LIFE AND THE TIMES OF THE MULL OF KINTYRE.

SMILES IN THE SUNSHINE AND TEARS IN THE RAIN,
STILL TAKES ME BACK WHERE MY MEM'RIES REMAIN.
FLICKERING EMBERS GROW HIGHER AND HIGHER
AS THEY CARRY ME BACK TO THE MULL OF KINTYRE.

MULL OF KINTYRE,
OH, MIST ROLLING IN FROM THE SEA.
MY DESIRE IS ALWAYS TO BE HERE,
OH, MULL OF KINTYRE.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

New Year's Celebrations

My own New Year's Celebrations have changed over the years. This year I celebrated with a dinner with two friends. It was very nice. I feel better about this coming year because of spending time with friends on New Year's Day. I am doing home work (taking a break right now) and will be doing homework for at least another 2 years! But that's Okay.I look at new Years celebrations not so much as the end of the past year as really looking forward to the next year, seizing opportunities, and growing, not in girth!, but in mirth, and worth. It's not - any excuse for a party - for me. It's an excuse for gratitude and showing that gratitude by what I am going to do with my blessings, magnifying talents, sharing insights. My Grandmother Grace's birthday was 15 Jan 1903. I wondered how she felt about her birthday so close to New Year's Day. Our grandson Conrad's birthday is 4 January. He has the same opportunity! New beginnings. What was that hymn we sang this morning? "Come Let Us Anew" - our journey pursue, Roll round with the year, And never stand still till the Master appear. His adorable will let us gladly fulfill, And our talents improve by the patience of hope and the labors of love. [Charles Wesley] I remember New Year's celebrations of alcohol and revelry, loudness and crudeness, that make me sad now. Staying up late to welcome in the new year - yes, with loved ones and thanksgiving. That's the way to go. Ha!

Try it again - weekly, not weakly - in 2011

I want to take up the 52 Weeks Challenge. See
My daughter Lisa posted this quote on Facebook - "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain
I don't want so many regrets of omission. I want to Do it!