American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology
Presents
International Pediatric Neuroradiology Teaching Network
It is FREE international weekly lecture series by leading international experts in the field of pediatric neuroradiology.
Every Saturday at noon Eastern Standard Time.
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Saturday 11 April 2020
David M. Mirsky, MD
Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado, USA
“Abusive Head Trauma”
San Francisco 9am
Denver 10am
Chicago 11am
New York 12pm
Sao Paulo 1pm
London 5pm
Rome 6pm
New Delhi 9:30pm
Sydney 2am
I am interested in how brain or neck injury affects the “motor control of breathing”. I have measured breathing rates in my first aid class and was surprised to find breathing rates at rest that were very low with active exhaling and inhaling in normal adults. The people with this kind of breathing were not at all aware of this. Their too slow breathing was not visible at all, even after one knew of it. The persons were energetic, normal , healthy with normal other vital signs. They had no respiratory distress. I have followed some for over 20 years. They all had a history of early possible CNS injury from various causes; one was resuscitated at birth before he took his first breath. He also had to be transfused at birth to establish regular breathing. It is possible that the nervous system had to rely on other ways for him to breath. No one knows. It has never been studied. Maybe he had slow breathing from his first delayed breath or maybe he developed it once he was fully grown as a young adult or maybe right before our classroom some recent infection or something. His baseline breathing has remained too slow at rest for 25 years now.
Other people I tested [it has become a hobby] and followed eventually developed Parkinson’s or even dementia. No one except me knew about their abnormal baseline breathing.
I wonder if [hidden, unknown, unstudied] slow breathing when healthy predisposes one to respiratory acidosis or mild hypercapnia [with normal 02 and HC03] if enough obstacles to the baseline slow deep breathing occur in these people. If so then clearing the airways and facilitating movement of air in and out of the body might overcome some of their symptoms and reduce or eliminate their mental confusion. If we measured their baseline breathing at rest, that is [takes one minute with a stopwatch].
If you would like to know more about these observations let me know.
Scientists in the previous century made similar observations about certain groups of demented patients [thousands of them] discovered to have too slow breathing. They did not drop dead but instead survived for years, without their wits.
I think we could help some of these people, if injury to the CNS affecting the motor systems moving air in and out during physical illness could be addressed with medications [bronchodilators, respiratory rehabilitation and machines to help move air for them.]
Without one’s mind, one is not really alive. Recovery of mind is everything! And in the 21st century we haven’t even tried to address this with the tools of modern medicine.
Thanks.
Stay safe everyone!
Thank you Brigitte for your informative valuable comment.
looking to hear more from you