Dr Kalokerinos & others on SIDS/Vitamin C

[Sheri Nakken]

Why a Satisfactory Solution to the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Has Not Been Achieved
by Dr Archie Kalokerinos

The problem arises because the definition of the sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS) is too limited in its scope. It is usually accepted that it
means the sudden, unexpected death of an infant who was either apparently
well or suffering from a 'trivial' illness which normally would not be
expected to cause death and autopsy findings failed to provide a
satisfactory explanation for death. However, one could become involved in
all sorts of discussions and augments concerning fine details of many
cases. While a recognition of these fine details is important the
definition as outlined above is a practical starting point.

Some aspects have been intensely studied during recent years. They are:

So called 'risk factors'
Abnormal biochemical, bacterial, viral, immunological, microscopic
(including electron microscope findings) and almost every aspect of modern
medical technology.

In other words, the more we look for fine abnormalities the more we find.
Unfortunately, apart from a few factors such as the recognition of the
dangers of cigarette smoking, nothing had been found that dramatically
reduces the incidence of the syndrome. Most authorities will admit that the
syndrome is a 'garbage can' where almost anything can lead up to it and
almost any abnormality can be found if one cares to look carefully enough.
It is necessary, of course, to bear in mind the fact that whatever the
findings are they are insufficient to satisfactorily explain the death
according to accepted medical standards.

Over thirty years ago I was able to make a series of observations that
permitted me to finally understand the syndrome and not just reduce its
incidence but to reduce the infant mortality rate overall in a dramatic
fashion.

In the area under may control there was an extraordinarily high incidence
of the syndrome and a high infant death rate overall both amongst
Aboriginal and Caucasian infants. Many deaths could be attributed to the
SIDS syndrome as defined above. Other infants were apparently well or had
an apparently trivial illness, became suddenly shocked or unconscious,
often proceeded by an irritable or apprehensive state, and died. Autopsies
failed to explain why.

When I sought assistance from other general practitioners, specialists and
government departments I was told:

That nobody else had such a problem
That I was obviously doing something wrong
That I was not suited to practice medicine in such an area
That I should see a psychiatrist because I was 'over concerned'.

The fact was that all doctors had this problem. In some areas it was worse
than it was in mine. Many doctors, for reasons that I still cannot explain,
really thought that they did not have the problem inspite of records
studied by me later that revealed that they had it in a big way. Other
doctors, specialists and government departments deliberately lied to me. I
cannot, to this day explain why but it was so. It is important to recognise
this because in many ways authorities have not changed. They still lie,
cheat and misrepresent when some most serious and obvious medical problems
are considered.

Eventually I found that provided I could treat an infant early enough I
could reverse the unexplained shock or unconscious stage by administering
vitamin C in big doses, intramuscularly or intravenously. The method of
administration and the dose given depended on the severity of the clinical
state. It was a dramatic breakthrough. The statistics demonstrate clearly
how I was able to reduce the infant death rate during the period from
December 1967 to November 1975 when I left the area.

With such a result one would expect other doctors to sit up and take
notice. I was shocked to find that the reverse occurred. Doctors and
authorities (and later SIDS organisations) not only ignored my work but
became extremely hostile. Several times I was able to demonstrate to
colleagues the dramatic reversal of the shock or unconscious stage. They
remained hostile.

This hostility reached an extreme state one time when twins were admitted
to the hospital in a desperately neglected, malnourished and dehydrated
state. I lived next door to the hospital. There were three phone lines
between my place and the hospital. The twins were admitted (from memory)
about 10.00pm at night. Nobody informed me about their admission. I saw
them when I did routine rounds next day at 10.00am. When I stated that I
was going to resuscitate them by administering intravenous fluids the
nurses tried to talk me out of doing this. When I insisted that I would
they all walked out, leaving me alone to find the instruments and equipment
and resuscitate them. They did survive.

What makes otherwise sane people do something like this? I can only assume
that there was a large degree of hostility because of jealousy - something
gets into individuals and changes their entire psychology. They become
twisted in such a way that normal human responses are impossible. It is
necessary for me to stress this event so that others can understand why it
is that my work has been ignored.

But worse was to come. I observed that in some circumstances, particularly
when infants had even a mild illness that sudden collapse (shock or
unconsciousness or sudden death) could occur after the routine
administration of a vaccine of any type. Immediately authorities rushed to
deny that such a thing happens or if it does it is so rare that it can be
ignored because of the overpowering benefit of the vaccines to others.

Now I am not going to state here that vaccines should not be administered -
that is too complex a topic for simple consideration. But I am going to say
that serious reactions to vaccines, particularly the crude form of whooping
cough (pertussis) vaccine that is used in Australia, are far more common
than authorities would have us believe. More important this gives us an
important clue that leads to an understanding of the SIDS.

Any stress, any infection, any vaccine can in susceptible infants lead to
the SIDS. Any of these factors can lead to sudden unconsciousness or sudden
shock. The SIDS is not a clearly defined condition. It must be considered
as a multifactorial end to a complex picture. It is more likely to hit an
infant with poor immune responses. Vitamin C can and does play a critical
role. There is no doubt that smoking and other forms of pollution are
important factors. Proper breast feeding provides a considerable degree of
protection. Except in rare cases there should be no need for any baby to
die in a manner that ends with a death certificate labelled 'SIDS'. As far
as I am concerned the problem is 90% solved. If other doctors prefer to
think otherwise we will continue to see many more unnecessary deaths. Most
research projects now in progress only cloud the issue without solving it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

CAFMR Newsletter - Spring 1996 - Campaign Against Fraudulent Medical
Research, P.O. Box 234, Lawson NSW 2783, Australia. Phone +61
(0)2-4758-6822. www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr

The above article may be downloaded, copied, printed or otherwise
distributed without seeking permission from CAFMR. However, printed
acknowledgement is required when this is done.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

About Dr Kalokerinos
Dr Archie Kalokerinos took his medical degree from Sydney University in
1951 and then spent six years in England. On his return to Australia he was
appointed Medical Superintendent of Collarenebri Hospital where he served
until 1975.

He is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society for Health, a Fellow of the
International Academy of Preventive Medicine, Fellow of the Australasian
College of Biomedical Scientists, Fellow of the Hong Kong Medical
Technology Association, and a Member of the New York Academy of Sciences.
He is also the Honorary Medical Advisor for Aboriginal Health. In 1978 Dr
Kalokerinos was awarded the A.M.M. (Australian Medal of Merit) for
'outstanding scientific research'.

He has authored and co-authored books with profound orthomolecular medicine
implications entitled Every Second Child (1974) and Vitamin C: Nature's
Miraculous Healing Missile (1993), as well as writing many scientific
papers. Currently he is semi-retired, living in Tamworth, New South Wales.

Return to the Top
********
Vitamin C & SIDS

http://www.cforyourself.com/Conditions/SIDS/sids.html

Please VIEW this on the WEBPAGE for the many links within the article
SIDS may be a Complication of Acute Infantile Scurvy
Some History

Scurvy has been known for centuries. Dr. James Lind, a Scottish physician
working in the British Naval Service in 1747, conducted his now-famous
experiments that showed citrus fruits to be a cure for scurvy. In 1753 he
wrote A Treatise on Scurvy. Here is a quote from him from 1757 concerning
scorbutic (suffering from a vitamin C deficiency) patients:

"Persons that appear to be but slightly scorbutic are apt to be suddenly
and unexpectedly seized with some of its worst symptoms. Their dropping
down dead upon an exertion of their strength or change of air is not easily
foretold."

Doesn't this sound chillingly like SIDS?

The Ascorbate Historical Reference Page contains a reprint of an article,
SUDDEN DEATH IN INFANTS WITH SCURVY by Richard H. Follis, Jr., M.D. from
the Departments of Pathology and Pediatrics, the Johns Hopkins Medical
School dated 1942. It discusses there cases of infant death that came
"suddenly". This article also points to the link between vitamin C
deficiency and Sudden Infant Death.
Dr. Archie Kalokerinos wrote a book, Every Second Child, that describes his
work in Australia with Vitamin C and SIDS. He treated Aboriginal women and
their babies, a very high-risk group for SIDS.

The results of his work showed that not a single baby under his care died
of SIDS! He feels that SIDS is a reaction to what he calls acute infantile
scurvy. If you are an expectant mother, or plan to be one, it is vital
that you supplement your diet with adequate Vitamin C.

Dr. Frederick Klenner of North Carolina had mother's take 5-15 grams per
day of vitamin C during both pregnancy and the nursing period. None of the
babies in his care ever died of SIDS (see his explanation below). Please
see Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine article The Answer to Crib Death for
more on both these doctors work.

Your baby's dependence obviously continues during the nursing period. If
you plan to use a commercial formula, I strongly recommend that you mix
Vitamin C powder in the formula to increase your babies Vitamin C intake.

To figure out how to do this, you might shoot for a Vitamin C level of
around 50mg/bottle. If your baby drinks ten bottles a day, that would work
out to 500mg/day, which would be fine. You will need to be sensitive to
how much your baby can tolerate.

As an example, if you buy canisters of powder, figure out how many
"bottles" are in a canister. Multiply this number by 50. This will tell
you how much C to add to the canister. Since vitamin C powder contains
about 5000mg per teaspoon, divide your last figure by 5000 and this is the
number of measuring teaspoons of C to mix into your dry formula.

I know you must be asking how the link between SIDS and vitamin C could be
possible when the SIDS groups never talk about this possibility. Please
visit Oscar Falconi's page S.I.D.S for his interesting experience in this
matter. Also, please visit Dr. Kalokerinosí discussion of the SIDS
situation at WHY A SATISFACTORY SOLUTION TO THE SIDS HAS NOT BEEN FOUND.

New Study Finds Possible Heart Problem Link
Reports in the news recently (June, 1998) link at least some SIDS cases to
a heart problem. The problem is in the heartís electrical system, which
tells the heart how and when to beat. The researchers have found a problem
that may occur and possibly cause the deaths of 50% of SIDS cases. This is
a very important finding that may help drop the incidence of SIDS. The
plan is to identify, with ultrasound, those newborns that exhibit the
heartbeat indicating this problem and medicating them until they grow out
of it.

The Vitamin C deficiency link to SIDS discussed above is not inconsistent
with this new finding. On the Heart Failure page I discuss the nutrients
that have a major affect on a healthy heart, among them vitamin C. It is
entirely possible that adequate nutrition could lessen the effects of this
heart problem to the extent that it is less often, or even rarely, fatal.

All new parents can make sure their babies are getting adequate levels of
important nutrients, levels that may be lacking in "formula". This would
be especially important for babies diagnosed with this potentially fatal
problem and those that arenít too. The best thing about nutritional
therapy is that it does not need to be chosen instead of any medical
approach. It is a necessary component of health.
Medical Profession Still Baffled
An article published April 23, 2001 at Healthcentral.com entitled "Cause of
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome remains elusive" states:

"Despite decades of research, scientists remain confounded. Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome steals more small lives each year than cancer, pneumonia,
heart disease and AIDS combined."

This points out to me that maybe supplementing with vitamin C, which will
only do good things, should be promoted by the convential medical community
even without all the desired studies.
Pregnancy and Newborns
We all need a lot of vitamin C for optimum health. The more stress our
bodies are exposed to, the more C is used to maintain equilibrium (see
Homeostasis, under What C Does). Pregnancy is undoubtedly a considerable
stress, even the RDA recognizes this. In addition to the added stress on
the mother, let us not forget that a pregnant woman is indeed eating for
two. After birth, breast-feeding infants are totally dependant on their
mother's diet for their own nutrition. I recommend people that feed their
infants a bottle that even then their diets should be supplemented with
vitamin C, more than is in "formula" (see the SIDS page).

Women taking large-dose vitamin C supplementation during pregnancy will
have fewer complications, easier child-birth, fewer, smaller stretch marks
and, most important healthier babies. Babies getting vitamin C
supplementation will have fewer, less serious illnesses, will be much less
likely to have colic and may be less likely to fall victim of Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome.

Primary and lasting benefits in pregnancy. (reprinted from Dr. Klenners'
paper on his clinical experiences)
Observations made on over 300 consecutive obstetrical cases using
supplemental ascorbic acid, by mouth, convinced me that failure to use this
agent in sufficient amounts in pregnancy borders on malpractice. The lowest
amount of ascorbic acid used was 4 grams and the highest amount 15 grams
each day. (Remember the rat-no stress manufactures equivalent "C" up to 4
grams and with stress up to 15.2 grams). Requirements were roughly 4 grams
first trimester, 6 grams second trimester and 10 grams third trimester.
Approximately 20 percent required 15 grams, each day, during last
trimester. Eighty percent of this series received a booster injection of 10
grams, intravenously, on admission to the hospital. Hemoglobin levels were
much easier to maintain. Leg cramps were less than three percent and always
was associated with "getting out" of Vitamin C tablets. Striae gravidarum
was seldom encountered and when it was present there existed an associated
problem of too much eating and too little walking. The capacity of the skin
to resist the pressure of an expanding uterus will also vary in different
individuals. Labor was shorter and less painful. There were no postpartum
hemorrhages. The perineum was found to be remarkably elastic and episiotomy
was performed electively. Healing was always by first intention and even
after 15 and 20 years following the last child the firmness of the perineum
is found to be similar to that of a primigravida in those who have
continued their daily supplemental vitamin C. No patient required
catheterization. No toxic manifestations were demonstrated in this series.
There was no cardiac stress even though 22 patients of the series had
rheumatic hearts. One patient in particular was carried through two
pregnancies without complications. She had been warned by her previous
obstetrician that a second pregnancy would terminate with a maternal death.
She received no ascorbic acid with her first pregnancy. This lady has been
back teaching school for the past 10 years. She still takes 10 grams of
ascorbic acid daily. Infants born under massive ascorbic acid therapy were
all robust. Not a single case required resuscitation. We experienced no
feeding problems. The Fultz quadruplets were in this series. They took milk
nourishment on the second day. These babies were started on 50 mg ascorbic
acid the first day and, of course, this was increased as time went on. Our
only nursery equipment was one hospital bed, an old, used single unit hot
plate and an equally old 10 quart kettle. Humidity and ascorbic acid tells
this story. They are the only quadruplets that have survived in
southeastern United States. Another case of which I am justly proud is one
in which we delivered 10 children to one couple. All are healthy and good
looking. There were no miscarriages. All are living and well. They are
frequently referred to as the vitamin C kids, in fact all of the babies
from this series were called "Vitamin C Babies" by the nursing
personnel--they were distinctly different.

*********

This is absolutely true! And the SIDS groups won't allow anyone to talk
about the link to VACCINES.
This is heard over and over. People are silenced and censored. Ask Dawn
Winkler (who is writing a book on her experiences - her baby died of
vaccine reactions called SIDS)
Sheri

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

S.I.D.S. - MY LAST STATEMENT, EVER! -
For 5 years, since 1978, I've been writing in these newsletters about Dr
Archie Kalokerinos and his finding that vitamin C almost certainly prevents
SIDS, the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. We've been selling his book, "Every
Second Child", at a loss. We've had him, and his colleague, Dr Glen
Dettman, speak at our Vitamin C Seminars and tell how a mere 25 cents'
worth of C per MONTH is all that's necessary to protect a baby. The late Dr
Irwin Stone and I attended meetings of "The SIDS Guild", written many
letters, given out hundreds of books, gratis, and visited several doctors
and coroners. And with what results? None whatever! The various SIDS groups
are more concerned with their pulse and respiration monitors (rented at
many 100's of dollars per MONTH) than with prevention. And they go on and
on about how to handle GUILT feelings after losing a baby, which, of
course, is sheer silliness when the parents were unaware of any preventive
methods. The only GUILT lies with the SIDS Groups themselves who even
refuse to DISCUSS the possibility that SIDS might be related to vitamin C!
In their meetings, where the smoke-level is remarkably high, never is a
Smoking-vs-SIDS study ever discussed. The level of discussion, and the
quality of questions is primitive. In fact, I estimate the IQ level of the
average SIDS parent to be about 80 or 90. Of this I'm convinced. And since
I feel that intelligence (or the lack of) is hereditary, it would be
hypocritical of me to continue my campaign to rid the world of SIDS when
all I'd accomplish would be the proliferation of the unfit. Most of the
100's of lives that Dr Kalokerinos has saved in Australia over the past 15
years have been Aborigines known to be one of the world's most primitive
and unproductive peoples. I can understand why the Australian gov't (and
maybe our gov't) protects its gene pool by ignoring the solution to the
SIDS tragedy: vitamin C. So, except for offering Dr Kalokerinos's book
until my stock runs out, this is the last you'll be hearing about SIDS and
vitamin C in these Newsletters! In addition, the price of the book will now
be $3.00, up where it belongs, and none will be given away. I just hope
that the people willing to spend 3 bucks to learn how to protect their
babies have IQ's over 100.

Oscar Falconi
http://www.nutri.com/wn/sids.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath
Well Within & Earth Mysteries & Sacred Site Tours (worldwide)
Vaccination Information & Choice Network
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/homeo.htm
homeopathycures@tesco.net
ONLINE Introduction to Homeopathy Classes
ONLINE Introduction to Vaccine Dangers Classes
ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL
OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE
Voicemail US 530-740-0561 UK phone from US 011-44-1874-624-936

[Patricia Hatherly]

Dear Sheri

Some extra information to add to this debate......

While in utero babies of mothers who consume large amounts of vitamin C as a
supplement are exposed to those large amounts.
The breast, unlike the placenta, is selective for vitamin C and delivers
40mg/l daily. With maternal intake in megadoses this will go up slightly but
remains under 200mg/l no matter how much the mother ingests.

If it is considered that a baby (following a vaccine or for any other
reason) needs extra vitamin C the breast cannot be relied upon to deliver it
even if the mother increaes her intake.

There are cases on record of breastfed babies showing signs of scurvy while
being breastfed because of the mother's ingestion of megadoses of vitamin C
in the pregnancy.

regards
Patricia Hatherly

[Shannon Nelson]

Hi Patricia,

Would that be because of a "rebound effect", where the vitamin needs to be
gradually reduced in order to avoid temporary deficiency, or is the issue
something different?

Shannon
on 3/31/04 3:19 PM, Patricia Hatherly at triciah@rnhconsulting.com.au wrote:

[Patricia Hatherly]

Hi Shannon

As it's a sudden drop it could be due to rebound effect.
I generally suggest to pregnant mothers who favour vitamin C protocols to
increase doses only as needed for times of stress and keep doses moderate
around the time of birth.

The "protective" mechanism associated with breastfeeding and vaccination is
due more to the fact that it has been observed that breastfed babies
demonstrate a higher antigen response than bottle-fed babies. I guess one
could say they have a more "appropriate" response to vaccine!!

But....that's a gross generalisation and individual susceptibility and
constitution needs to be considered when weighing up the risk.

regards
Patricia