The study appears in the September issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.
Washington University researchers reviewed three U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission databases for deaths related to crib bumpers and crib-related injuries from 1985 to 2005. They found 27 accidental deaths reported by authorities of children between the ages of 1 month and 2 years that were attributed to suffocation or strangulation by bumper pads or their ties. Additionally, there were 25 nonfatal injuries attributed to bumper pads.
Investigators attributed 11 of the 25 deaths to suffocation caused when infants faces came to rest against bumper pads, 13 deaths from tots being wedged between bumper pads and another object, and three deaths from strangulation by bumper ties.
"Many infants lack the motor development needed to free themselves when they become wedged between the bumper pad and another surface," said Dr. Bradley Thach, professor of pediatrics and staff physician at St. Louis Children's Hospital who researches infant apnea and sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. "They are likely to suffocate because they are re-breathing expired air or their nose and mouth are compressed."
Washington University researchers investigated 22 crib bumpers available for purchase at retail stores for features that could pose a risk to infants. They graded the bumpers for softness and measured the potential space between the bottom of bumper and mattress, the width of the bumper pads and the length of the fasteners that attach the bumper to the crib.
Thach said neither soft nor firm bumper pads are without risk.
"If the pads are too soft, the baby's nose or face can get pressed up against it, and the baby suffocates," he said. "If they are too firm, the baby can climb up on the pads and fall out of the crib."
Current product-safety standards state that bumper pads should not have ribbons, strings, or ties longer than 9 inches, but the researchers found two with fasteners longer than 9 inches.
Thach said all of the retail bumper pads they examined were hazardous because they all potentially leave a space between the pad and the mattress where babies can get their heads wedged. Thach recommends that parents not use bumper pads in cribs or bassinets.
"I don't think bumper pads are doing any good," he said. "Although the deaths and injuries may be rare events, they are preventable by eliminating the use of bumper pads."
EXERCISE PLAN
Dr. Ronald Sigal of the University of Calgary studies the effects of exercise on type 2 diabetes. Lately, Sigal has put his attention on the effects of resistance exercise and aerobic exercise.
Resistance exercise, such as weight-lifting, works the muscles, while aerobic exercise, such as walking and swimming, works the heart and lungs.
Research has shown that exercise generally improves blood sugar management in those with type 2 diabetes, but Sigal wanted to know if one form of exercise was better than another. What he found was weight lifting and walking were equally effective in helping diabetics control their blood sugar levels. But better still, Sigal's research showed that combining the two was even more effective.
The relatively small study included 251 adults, aged 39-70, who were not exercising regularly and had type 2 diabetes. Participants were assigned for the 26 week duration of the study to one of four groups:
- Group 1 performed 45 minutes aerobic training three times per week.
- Group 2 performed 45 minutes of resistance training three times per week.
- Group 3 performed 45 minutes each of both three times per week.
- Group 4, the control, performed no exercise.
Both the aerobic and resistance training groups had improved blood sugar control. Their A1c value each had decreased by about one-half percent.
The group that did both kinds of exercise had about twice as much improvement as either other group alone - A1c value decreased by 0.97% compared to the control group.
"We didn't really know too much about what kind of exercise is the most beneficial and how much of it," Sigal said. "In particular there wasn't much known about resistance exercises when we started planning this study. At the time, some thought that resistance exercise is not useful or even dangerous for some people with diabetes.
"The bottom line is that doing both aerobic and resistance exercise is the way to maximize the effects of exercise on blood glucose control in type 2 diabetes."
E-mail Ven Griva at ven.griva@copleynews.com or write to P.O. Box 120190, San Diego, CA 92112.
