Shaken Baby Syndrome News and Research

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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.

For Republican candidates, talk about moms and babies is a thorny issue

A month before Election Day, as Republicans in Congress dodged questions about a proposal to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tweeted that he wanted to talk about moms and babies.

4 Nov 2022

Drops containing a specific probiotic strain can reduce colic in infants

Probiotics--or "good bacteria"--have been used to treat infant colic with varying success. In a new trial published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, investigators have shown that drops containing a particular probiotic strain (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12) reduced the duration of daily crying by more than 50% in 80% of the 40 infants who received the probiotic once daily for 28 days.

4 Dec 2019

A combination of sensory stimuli can help soothe crying babies, study reveals

What is the most effective way for parents to soothe their crying babies? A combination of sensory stimuli - by way of swaddling, sound and movement - can help, according to a new study by SEIN, the expertise center for epilepsy and sleep medicine, and the University of Amsterdam.

25 Apr 2019

Researchers develop blood test to detect intracranial bleeding in infants with abusive head trauma

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have developed and refined a blood test that could help clinicians identify infants who may have had bleeding of the brain as a result of abusive head trauma, sometimes referred to as shaken baby syndrome.

10 Apr 2017

Many medical specialists accept shaken baby syndrome as valid medical diagnosis

A University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher and colleagues have conducted the first-ever survey of physicians on the validity of "abusive head trauma" as a medical diagnosis.

16 Aug 2016

Study shows physicians accept shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma as valid diagnoses

Survey data reveals a high degree of medical consensus that shaking a young child is capable of producing subdural hematoma (a life-threatening pooling of blood outside the brain), severe retinal hemorrhage, coma or death, according to a study published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

22 Jul 2016

Study provides more insights into abusive head injury in small children

Abusive head injury, sometimes referred to as shaken baby syndrome or non-accidental trauma, is the third leading cause of head injuries in small children in the US. For children under the age of 1 year, it is the cause of the majority of serious head injuries.

12 Jul 2016

Supportive leadership can help overcome language barriers to educate new parents about SBS/AHT

Language is a key obstacle to meeting guidelines for educating parents of newborns about "shaken baby syndrome"—also called abusive head trauma (SBS/AHT), reports a study in the Journal of Trauma Nursing, official publication of the Society of Trauma Nurses. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

2 Jun 2016

Study finds no link between intervention and state-level rates of shaken baby cases

A new evaluation of a statewide shaken baby prevention effort found that the number of calls to a nurse advice line from North Carolina parents who called because of a crying baby were reduced in the first 2 years after the intervention was implemented in 2007.

27 Oct 2015

Longer looks: New doubts about shaken baby syndrome; arresting the mentally ill; self-help therapy

A number of reexamined cases in recent years-;aided by new technology and debate among medical experts-;have put proponents of the (Shaken Baby Syndrome) hypothesis on the defensive.

4 Apr 2014

Spaceflights cause cellular-level damage and may lead to long-term vision problems

Those who travel to space are rewarded with a beautiful sight - planet Earth. But the effects of space travel on the human sense of sight aren't so beautiful. More than 30 percent of astronauts who returned from two-week space shuttle missions and 60 percent who spent six months aboard the International Space Station were diagnosed with eye problems. Two recent investigations examined mechanisms that may explain eye changes in spaceflight, help find ways to minimize this health risk to astronauts and eventually prevent and treat eye diseases on Earth.

13 Dec 2013

Conference to provide scientific research on shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma

On September 29, the Twelfth International Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS)/Abusive Head Trauma will take place in the city where nearly 15 years earlier Louise Woodward was convicted of second degree murder in the shaking death of infant Matthew Eappen.

15 Sep 2012

Mothers who suffer migraine headaches more likely to have babies with colic

A study of mothers and their young babies by neurologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that mothers who suffer migraine headaches are more than twice as likely to have babies with colic than mothers without a history of migraines.

21 Feb 2012

USC School of Medicine professor to present keynote on prevention of SBS at Texas conference

On February 28th, Harvey Karp, MD, FAAP, Assistant Professor at the USC School of Medicine, will present the keynote address on the prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome at the 25th Annual Conference of Prevent Child Abuse Texas, in Dallas.

23 Feb 2011

Traumatic brain injury causes $6.8 billion worth of economic trauma in Texas

Each year in Texas, traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes an estimated $6.8 billion worth of economic trauma in terms of deaths, emergency room visits, hospitalizations and disability, according to a study commissioned by the CORE Health Foundation. To put that dollar amount in perspective, it equals Coca-Cola's corporate profit for fiscal 2009.

27 Aug 2010

Collaborative project to consider new hypotheses for causation of subdural hematomas in SBS

New research led by the East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit at the University of Leicester will consider new theories as to the cause of subdural hematomas in infants. Support for the research has been provided by the NPIA, and the project is multi-disciplinary and collaborative.

1 Jul 2010

Researchers observe marked increase in abusive head traumas during economic downturn

The incidence of abusive head trauma among children has skyrocketed since the beginning of the recession in late 2007, according to research that will be presented Saturday, May 1 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

3 May 2010

Handheld SD-OCT device helps examine vitreoretinal interface in infants with SBS

Ophthalmologists examining infants for possible Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) found that a handheld Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) device provided high-resolution images of the retina and the vitreoretinal interface in infants with SBS, reports a study in the current issue of Retina, The Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases.

17 Apr 2010

Educational materials for new mothers may prevent shaken baby syndrome

Educational materials on how to deal with crying newborns lead to increased knowledge about infant crying and behaviours that are important to preventing shaken baby syndrome, found two new studies being published online March 2 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) and Pediatrics.

2 Mar 2009

Severe retinal hemorrhaging in young children linked to severe motor vehicle crashes

The severity of retinal hemorrhaging for young children in motor vehicle crashes is closely correlated to the severity of the crash, according to a new study by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Retinal hemorrhages occur when the blood vessels lining the retina rupture, resulting in bleeding onto the surface of the retina.

24 Jun 2008