Combined Federal
Campaigns
Florida
SIDS
sidsfla.org
Vol.16 No. 2
^ President’s Letter ^
Often I hear people talk about dreams,
maybe even a nightmare. The significance
is that it seems real and yet it isn’t.
I feel so blessed to have the opportunity
to watch the Olympics most evenings and
even the re-runs of the re-runs to catch all
the action. The commentators and reporters
find wonderfully interesting facts and
information about the athletes. They share
these human interest stories with a twist, no
dirt, scandals, or crime but stories of hard
working determined people pushing beyond
normal limits to achieve the impossible.
Imagine with me a dream of you waiting
for a signal to start the opportunity of a
lifetime. You have prepared for most of your
life after learning to walk (or maybe even
before) to compete against the clock, against
other determined and unbelievably talented
athletes, and most of all, against your own
human limitation.
You hear the sound that signals the start
of the event! You must keep trying to remain
focused on the task at hand putting aside
those fears and limitations that will drag you
down and that can keep you from doing your
very best. The going gets tough! You know if
you let the thought of quitting start, you will
spiral down and not reach the platform of
success. The reality is that the dream is just
a dream except for some. And for those of
us who know, the nightmare begins.
Some of those athletes will not make the
platform but others will. It seems more
important that each competitor contributes
to the others to challenge each to push
beyond. In the end the collective
accomplishments of the Olympic Games
accomplishes so much. The lesson of hard
work and the spirit of success is measured
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Roy Bagley
VICE PRESIDENT/TREASURER
Bunny Hamer
SECRETARY
Lisa Sculley
Current Officers
Steve Bonwit Judy Lanham
Tiffany Kremer Charlene Melcher
Lea O’Neill Leslie Pearce
Helene Simon Amy Krewson
not only by the medal count but, more
importantly, by the memories and the
realization of how hard work can overcome
obstacles. This effort can provide the
opportunity to compete and be counted in one
of the most significant events in the history
of mankind. Even when individuals make a
mistake, lose focus, or simply fail because
the competitor had more skill than they did,
it does not take away the fact that they remain
a part of this great event.
The nightmare for some is that the dream
is not a dream and the reality is your journey
to achieve the impossible. You have done
nothing that can prepare you for this event
nor did you believe it could ever happen to
Memorial Quilt
The Florida SIDS Alliance is making
memorial quilts for the different regions of
Florida, to honor and remember those we
lost. We will be using the quilts in different
venues to promote education on SIDS and to
help others who need our services.
We want to make it easy to participate!
Below are some tentative dates we will be
conducting workshops throughout the state
so everyone can make their own quilt square
for the different quilts. Amy Krewson, a SIDS
parent, will be teaching the quilt square
classes. She has been quilting for ten years
and will assemble the quilts. When these
ALLIANCE
1-800-SIDS-FLA
March / April 2010
you. The journey of grief is more challenging
than any competitive event but with the
lessons learned about hard work and
determination many have found that, in the
end, learning to cope with adversity and grief
can provide for the opportunity to achieve the
impossible.
As you continue your journey, may it
result in reaching the platform of life that you
design with recognition that together with the
support of each other we can contribute to
our own sphere of influence while knowing
that we are able to give the greatest gift to
others - to keep giving of ourselves.
Roy Bagley
quilts are complete, pictures will be available
on the internet. If you are unable to attend a
workshop, Amy is also able to assist by email
and phone.
www.wpquilts.com / amy@wpquilts.com
904-327-9870
April 23 & 24 – Lake Mary/Orlando
April 30 & May 1
June 12
June 25 & 26
July 16-17
July 23-24
September 24 & 25
October 1 & 2
October 22 & 23
October 29 & 30
November 5 & 6
November 12 & 13
Other than April 23 & 24, other locations
are TBA. We will be calling areas to set up
these events. If you are interested in
participating, please let us know even before
we call you, by calling 800-SIDS-FLA or by
emailing us at sidsfla@yahoo.com. We look
forward to meeting you at these memorable
and fun events!
Amy Krewson & Lisa Sculley
 Mark your calendar for these March Events!
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O M ING
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UP NTS
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For more information about these events, please email sidsfla@yahoo.com
or call 800-SIDS-FLA. We are also on Facebook. Look us up!
Low Production of Serotonin in the Brainstem a Likely Cause for SIDS
Boston, Mass. Taking the next step in
more than 20 years of research, researchers
at Children’s Hospital Boston have linked
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) with
low production of serotonin in the brainstem,
based on a comparison of brainstem
samples from infants dying of SIDS
compared to brainstems of infants dying from
other, known causes.
The findings, published in the Feb. 3
issue of The Journal of the American Medical
Association, may give a concrete approach
to identifying babies at risk for SIDS, the
leading cause of death for infants between 1
and 12 months old in the United States.
In the brainstem, serotonin helps
regulate some of the body’s involuntary
actions, such as breathing, heart rate and
blood pressure during sleep. The
researchers, led by Children’s
neuropathologist Hannah Kinney, MD,
believe that a low serotonin level impairs the
function of the brainstem circuits that regulate
these activities, putting a baby at risk for
sudden death from stresses such as
rebreathing carbon dioxide when sleeping in
the face down position.
The future goal of this work is to devise
a test to identify infants with a serotonin
brainstem defect early, and to develop
preventive treatments that would correct the
serotonin deficiency.
In 2006, Kinney and colleagues showed
that SIDS is associated with abnormalities
in the number of cells and receptors related
to serotonin in the brainstem, but it wasn’t
clear whether SIDS may be caused by
overproduction or underproduction of the
chemical.
In the new study, the team measured the
levels of serotonin and tryptophan
hydroxylase, the enzyme that helps make
serotonin, in 36 infants dying from SIDS and
two control groups (5 infants dying acutely
MARCH 19TH
3rd Annual
Memorial Golf
Tournament
Alaqua Country Club
Longwood, FL
from other causes, and 5 hospitalized infants
with chronic hypoxia-ischemia (insufficient
oxygen supply to tissues). Tissue samples
from the brainstem were obtained from
autopsies and provided by research partners
at the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s
Office in California.
Compared with controls, the serotonin
levels in the lower brainstem were 26 percent
lower in the SIDS cases compared to
controls, while the tryptophan hydroxylase
levels were 22 percent lower. Levels of
binding to serotonin receptors were also
lower by more than 50 percent. The
consistency and correlation of these findings
with each other reinforce the idea that SIDS
in the majority of cases is a disorder of
serotonin the brainstem, the researchers say.
“The baby looks normal during the day;
there’s nothing that would tell you that baby
is going to die of SIDS that night,” says
Kinney, who has studied SIDS for more than
20 years. “There’s something about sleep
that unmasks the defect, which we believe
is in serotonin circuits: the baby experiences
some kind of stress during sleep, such as
rebreathing carbon dioxide in the face-down
position or increased temperature from over-
bundling, that cannot be compensated for by
the defective brainstem circuits, and the baby
then goes on to die.”
In a normal baby rebreathing carbon
dioxide, serotonin pathways in the brainstem
would stir the baby awake long enough to
turn its head, allowing it to breathe fresh air,
Kinney adds. A baby with low serotonin levels
in the brainstem may never stir.
SIDS has puzzled doctors and families
for decades, but once the medical community
recognized that a baby’s position while
sleeping affects the risk for SIDS, national
awareness campaigns sprouted to persuade
parents to place babies to sleep on their
backs. However, such campaigns haven’t
MARCH 20TH
2nd Annual
Kiara Dawn
Walkathon
Jupiter Riverwalk
Jupiter, FL
completely solved the problem, prompting
ongoing research to find a biological
component to SIDS.
While this study provides strong
evidence for a biological cause of SIDS, it
also shows that other risk factors, such as
sleeping on one’s stomach, can aggravate
the risk. Of the SIDS infants in the current
study, 95 percent died with at least one risk
factor, and 88 percent died with at least two.
The next step in this research is to find
out what causes abnormally low serotonin
levels in the first place. Genetic variations
may be partly responsible, says
neuroscientist David Paterson, PhD, in
Kinney’s lab, a contributing author of the
paper. Kinney’s lab is searching for such
variations.
In the meantime, parents should remove
unnecessary SIDS risk factors, Kinney says.
During pregnancy, there is no safe level of
alcohol a mother can drink and no safe level
of smoking, both firsthand and secondhand.
Until 12 months of age, babies should sleep
on their backs in a crib with a firm mattress,
and without toys, soft pillows, excessive
blanketing or excessive clothing.
This study was supported by funds from
the First Candle/SIDS Alliance, CJ Martin
Overseas Fellowship, the CJ Murphy
Foundation, the National Institute of Child
Health and Development, and the
Developmental Disabilities Research Center
at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Citation: Jhodie R. Duncan, PhD, David S.
Paterson, PhD, Jill M. Hoffman, BS, David
J. Mokler, PhD, Natalia S. Borenstein, MS,
Richard A. Belliveau, BA, Henry F. Krous,
MD, Elisabeth A. Haas, BA, Christina Stanley,
MD, Eugene E. Nattie, MD, Felicia L.
Trachtenberg, PhD, Hannah C. Kinney, MD.
Brainstem serotonergic deficiency in Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome. JAMA Feb. 3, 2010,
Vol. 303, No. 5.
We Remember These...
MARCH BIRTHS
Matasion Beasley 3/06/2004 Jennifer Roy & Chris Beasley
Michael Robert Brown 3/04/1993 Pat Brown
David Charles Burton 3/17/1985 Amy Krewson, Albert & Gertrude Kehne
Kathryn Cunningham 3/08/1993 Kevin Cunningham
Bryce Taylor Cunningham 3/09/1994 Katrina Cunningham
Savon Giovonni Davis 3/12/1998 Ronnie Allen
Evan Reed Dermer 3/30/1999 Scott & Heidi Dermer
Michelle Elizabeth Dickerson 3/28/1992 Lee & Denise Dickerson, Phillip Beaulieu
Nicholas Shane Duncan 3/14/1991 John & Gina Duncan
Gregory Freiberg 3/02/1996 Irv & Abbey Freiberg
Alyssa Hoffman 3/21/1990 Patricia Hoffman
Lazarus Addison Jacobs 3/19/2002 Eddie & Jenny Jacobs
Michael Jones 3/05/1998 Morrell & Sharon Jones
MARCH MEMORIALS

Jacob Peter Koomen Jr. 3/01/1999 Jacob & Kris Koomen

Noah Matthew Lueken 3/27/1999 Scott & Beth Lueken
Grant Connor Maddox 3/21/1995 Lee Ward
Travis Markham 3/06/2000 Jason & Samantha Markham
Rose Michelle Massuh 3/20/1996 Michelle Massuh
Ezekiel Sean Nichols 3/15/2001 Ezekiel & Holly Nichols
Matthew Thomas Pribisco 3/01/1995 Lynne King
Kiara Dawn Price 3/12/2002 Briana Price
Eduardo Jose Rojas 3/26/1995 Eduardo & Jennifer Rojas
Curtis Leroy Sherrod, III 3/15/2008 Curtis & Akisha Sherrod
Kyle Edward Spiller
Lyndria
3/02/1989
3/11/2002
Suzanne Spiller
Digna Bayron, Yannine Camara The Research:
MARCH ANNIVERSARIES
Giovanni Adams 3/17/1991 Darlene Adams
Just Another Story
Justin Robert Bonwit
Samuel Brannon
3/25/1996
3/02/2009
Steve & Annette Bonwit
Nicole Brannon & Joey or One Step Closer
Edward Burton Jr. 3/08/1995 Ed & Michelle Burton, Lisa Schroeder
Alexandra Carby
Savon Giovonni Davis
3/12/1991
3/31/1999
Tracy Morales
Ronnie Allen to the Cause?
Jerry Demetrius-White 3/18/1989 Connie White For more than twenty years I have followed
Rian Paige Goldberg 3/09/1989 Lee Nossen
Franklin Guice 3/20/1993 Kelly Guice the work of Dr. Hannah Kinney. I first met her as
Trey Jakob Hall 3/21/1998 Melanie Manley, Homer Hall she was starting her study of the brain. Just like
Alyssa Hoffman 3/21/1990 Patricia Hoffman a defining spiral, her work has led a path to where
Deanna Johnson 3/07/1994 Edna & Darcelle Covert
Antonio Demark Jones 3/06/1999 Chaunecy & Antonio Jones, Dannette Jones Whitley
this research article brings us. For the
Dane Fisher Knihnicki 3/01/2000 Rebecca Knihnicki Roblin professionals out there, it is more than just
Jacob Peter Koomen Jr. 3/23/1999 Jacob & Kris Koomen another study that takes a stab at the cause of
Glenn Charles Lampke 3/22/1995 Mark & Laura Lampke SIDS - meaning the event or circumstances that
Madyson (Mady) Kay Landrum 3/14/1998 Ben & Dianna Landrum
Emma McNulty 3/11/1999 Pat & Jessica McNulty lead up to the SIDS event. This is the culmination
Magdalena Moore 3/08/1996 John & Nancy Moore of years of research. Charlene Melcher, a SIDS
Ezekiel Sean Nichols 3/19/2001 Ezekiel & Holly Nichols parent from Orlando, puts it simply:
Triston Geffrey Pickell 3/25/1998 Jeffery & Lisa Ann Pickell
Kadijah Ross 3/14/1994 Clarissa Ross
Jessica Smith 3/20/2005 Malinda Smith “I had someone ask me today what the news
Zoey White 3/18/2005 Marcia White from Dr. Kinney means in layman’s terms. From
what I understand the theory is that babies that die
of SIDS have lower levels of serotonin in the brain.
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
Shauna Faith Aicklen 4/26/2006 Kelley Aicklen Since serotonin allows the neurons in the brain to
Chelsea Bischoff 4/25/1992 Myrna Grossman talk to each other, lower levels impede the reaction
Renae Anne Colby 4/06/1986 Sandy Colby to anything that stresses a babies system such as
Zaren Crawford 4/23/1996 Buffy Hoffman
Declan Shaye Foote 4/02/2004 Elizabeth Ferrara
re-breathing carbon monoxide, smoke, overheating
Francis Fuller 4/07/1995 Francis & Colleen Fuller etc. When these stressors are combined with the
Sofia Go 4/05/2007 Raymond & Rebecca Go lower levels of serotonin, it can cause a baby’s heart
Eddie Hooper 4/24/2009 Debra Hooper rate to lower, breathing to slow down, and the baby
APRIL MEMORIALS

Aiden Noriega 4/04/2001 Rick & Ethel Noriega

Jonah Pak
Anthony Michael Sauls
Gary Shutter
Steven Chase Walter
Christopher Whitty
Billy
APRIL ANNIVERSARIES
Chelsea Bischoff
Zachary Bolton
Michael Robert Brown
Kathryn Cunningham
Kaitlin Alexa Dial
Nicholas Shane Duncan
Chance Gabriel Goodman
Samantha Grell
Matthew Eugene Jenkins III
Jennifer Langlais
William Warren Phalen
Jodi Santillo
Olivia Lee Savarino
Curtis Leroy Sherrod, III
Gary Shutter
Kyle Edward Spiller
Reagann Cheyanne Stinson
Taylor Marie Valenzano
Ashley Nicole Winslow
Erik Robert Young
Billy
Lyndria
4/05/2004 Kyungjun & Sophia Pak to not wake up. There is no way to test for serotonin
4/13/1990 Christie & Michael Pawlak so we are still not there yet, but this research is
4/03/2001 Denise Waltz & David Shutter putting us a lot closer to find a reason for our babies
4/30/2007 Renee Jarstad deaths… which is so much better than unknown.
4/03/1990 Terry Stephenson
4/04/2003 Jennifer Roberts From a parent’s perspective, this is the best news I
have heard in a long time. They are finally getting
close to finding a cause for Sudden Infant Death
4/11/1993 Myrna Grossman Syndrome. I never thought I would ever find a reason
4/14/1994 Terry & Evelyn Bolton
4/23/1993 Mike & Pat Brown for Jason’s death. Now I just might.”
4/22/1993 Kevin & Pam Cunningham
4/01/1998 Donna D Smith As a professional, this research brings hope
4/04/1991 John & Gina Duncan
4/27/2002 Melissa & Riley Goodman
to all those who work with families who have lost
4/24/1999 Damian & Thalia Grell, Claire Smith a child. SIDS is so different from other pediatric
4/25/1997 Lisa Jenkins deaths: it is sudden, has no known cause, and
4/19/1987 David & Geri Langlais parents often have to go through a murder
4/30/1995 Michelle Phalen
4/07/1994 Amy Rizzo investigation. If a medical reason is found, the
4/07/2007 Christopher & Brandi Savarino unanswered WHY may find the first glimpses of
4/25/2008 Curtis & Akisha Sherrod how.
4/04/2002 Denise Waltz & David Shutter
4/16/1989 Suzanne Spiller
4/11/2008 Megan Stinson Bunny Hamer, RN (Florida SIDS Volunteer)
4/17/2001 Donna & Tom Valenzano and Charlene Melcher (SIDS parent)
4/13/1993 Gregg & Renee Winslow Jason Robert Melcher
4/24/1996 Tracey Koons, Bob & Pat Koons
4/24/2003 Jennifer Roberts
10/5/1998 - 11/29/1998
4/26/2002 Digna Bayron, Yannine Camara

I want to help the Florida SIDS Alliance
win the fight against SIDS!
Here’s my gift to help save our babies:
$15 $25 $50 $___________
Please make check payable to
FLORIDA SIDS ALLIANCE
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Bus Phone ( _____ ) Ext. ___________________________
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Email __________________________________________
All Contributions are Tax Deductible
Florida SIDS Alliance is a non-profit,
charitable organization and has
501(c)(3) status granted by the IRS.
Florida SIDS Alliance
4044 W. Lake Mary Blvd Unit #104-209
Lake Mary, FL 32746
March / April 2010
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