European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Death suspicion turns to the brain by Sandra Blakeslee new York times the explanation for sudden infant death syndrome a mysterious malady that kills8,000 american babies each year seems Tolie in the developing brain scientists Are concluding. The research emphasis is shifting to the brain they say because 20 years of painstaking study into other Organ systems including the heart and lungs have failed to explain Why seemingly healthy infants die in their sleep. Moreover recent insights into brain chemistry and advanced imaging techniques Are making the new brain studies possible. While scientists say they Are still far from knowing the underlying cause of sudden infant death most experts now believe that Side babies have a Subtle but chronic brain abnormality. Some researchers believe the abnormality could lie in the brain Stem which controls breathing and heart rates. Others believe the problem May lie in brain areas controlling sleep patterns or learning processes. Still others Are looking at centers that control specific functions like Tongue Muscles or regulation of body heat. The new work is being mounted As scientists discard a popular theory linking crib death to Apnoea a breathing disorder. Although thousands of babies have been fitted with monitoring devices that sound an alarm when their breathing becomes irregular during sleep the incidence of crib death has not fallen Side experts say. Exploring vital pathways of the infant brain scientists Are studying connections Between the brain and an infant s bodily functions in the Hope of finding clues to sudden infant death syndrome. Old brain contains nerve connections that control breathing and heart rate processes messages from Medulla and sends messages from brain Stem to Pons and other areas. Pons affects some nerves that control the Throat and is apparently a relay area for messages from Midbrain to Medulla. Medulla controls breathing reflexes and controls or affects pathways to lungs. It senses concentrations of oxygen and Carbon dioxide controls pathways to diaphragm Muscles controls Tongue Muscles and controls nerves that descend to heart. Pineal gland participates in regulation of sleeping waking Cycle. Source Bruce Beckwith . Side researchers Are in Shock from the loss of their favorite pet theory said or. Bruce Beckwith a professor of pathology and paediatrics at the University of Colorado. The situation is verging on the chaotic. We be had lots of ideas but few hard  with congressional prodding 25 leading researchers met last fall at the National Institute of child health and human development in Bethesda md., to plot a five year research plan. The prodding was led by sen. Ernest f. Hollings a South Carolina Democrat who recently lost a grandchild to Side and who helped pass a Bill to increase funding for research into crib death. The plan which outlined promising areas for study will soon go to a Senate subcommittee that has promised to provide up to $25 million Over five years. Side researchers now receive $1.8 million annually from the government and about $1 million from charities. In taking Stock of their knowledge last fall the researchers pointed to a few hard facts that most agree on the Quality of prenatal care is not a Good predictor of crib death. While a baby born with a Low birth weight to a Mother who has received Little or no prenatal care is considered to be at greater risk three quarters of All Side babies Are born into Well to do families with Good prenatal care. Crib death is slightly More common in boys than girls. It generally does not run in families so parents who lose one infant Are not More Likely to lose another. Some experts say that extremely passive infants who tend not to fuss and squirm May be More vulnerable. A majority of the babies have had a cold or sniffles in the Days or weeks before sudden death not and most die Between Midnight and 9 . These findings represent a step Forward from the late 1960s, when it was thought that Side babies were perfectly Normal and died of fast moving pneumonia or parental neglect Beckwith said. In response to allegations of neglect parents banded together to form self help groups and to pressure researchers. But every exciting idea raised Over the last 20 years has thus far failed to explain Side Beckwith said. Blind alleys include theories of Vitamin c and thiamine deficiency hyperactive thyroids weak hearts childhood vaccinations sleeping positions blood disorders and even the use of water Beds. In the late 1970s, Beckwith said doctors focused on Apnoea a disorder in which infants Stop breathing for up to 20 seconds and sometimes simply do not Start again. Paediatricians began advocating Home monitors that track breathing patterns during sleep. If the baby should Stop breathing for More than 20 seconds an alarm would go off. By 1986, an estimated 40,000 to 45,000 monitors were being used in the United states according to the food and drug administration. Most were rented for about $200 a month. They thought if you solved the Apnoea problem Side would go away said or. Marie Valdes Dapena professor of pathology and paediatrics at the University of Miami school of Medicine. It did not. Despite untold numbers of Home monitors we Don t know that Side has diminished anywhere. Some Side victims have Apnoea but the vast majority do  what Are the Odds of being infected with aids Page 16 the stars and stripes by Rob Stein United press International Young heterosexual Man and a Young heterosexual woman meet for the first time in a bar go Home together and have sex. What Are the chances either will be infected with the deadly aids virus researchers have attempted to estimate heterosexuals current risk for becoming infected with his the human immunodeficiency virus that causes the deadly disease by crippling the immune system. But Many experts question the reliability of those estimates because so much is unknown about exactly How Many people Are infected with the aids virus and How easily it is spread from one person to another. The general thing that you can say is that your personal risk of getting his is really a function of two tuesday february 28,1989 things said James Wiley a researcher at the University of California los Angeles. One is the chances of having sex with a Carrier and the other one is what is the risk of transmission " there Are numerous variables that influence both of those factors Wiley said meaning there Are no simple rules for calculating any of these  the chances any Given individual May be infected depends on such things As where he lives and what his sexual habits and history Are. If that bar was in new York or san Francisco for example instead of a Small town in the Midwest then the chances would be much higher one of those Young people could be infected with the aids virus. But even if someone has sex with someone who is infected researchers say a variety of factors seem to play a role in determining the risks that person will actually pass the virus to his partner. Studies have indicated some people have become