September 2014 30. Dabelea D, Pettitt DJ. Intrauterine diabetic environment confers risks for type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity in the offspring, in addition to genetic susceptibility. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2001;14:1085-91. 31. Kral JG, Biron S, Simard S, Hould FS, Lebel S, Marceau S, et al. Large maternal weight loss from obesity surgery prevents transmission of
ORIGINAL ARTICLES obesity to children who were followed for 2 to 18 years. Pediatrics 2006;118:e1644-9. 32. Nehring I, Lehmann S, von Kries R. Gestational weight gain in accordance to the IOM/NRC criteria and the risk for childhood overweight: a meta-analysis. Pediatr Obes 2013;8:218-24.
50 Years Ago in THE JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS Cerebrospinal Fluid and Blood Electrolytes in 62 Mentally Defective Infants and Children Schain RJ, O’Brien K. J Pediatr 1964;65:422-30
ifty years ago in The Journal, Schain reported a comparison of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) electrolytes among a cohort of children with an assortment of developmental disabilities. These children were hospitalized at the Beatrice State Home in Nebraska, known until 1945 as the Institution for Feeble Minded Youth. “CSF was obtained by lumbar puncture and blood by femoral puncture.” No mention is made of patient consent. In the end, electrolyte values did not vary compared with children in the general population, contrary to the prevailing hypothesis that the CSF reflected the milieu interne of the central nervous system. We can reflect on how differently we viewed children with developmental disorders just 50 years ago. Knowledge of genetics and metabolic disease was then very primitive. There were no DNA microarrays, whole genome sequencing, or analysis of CSF neurotransmitters, all tests that we might casually consider obtaining today in the clinic. More concerning is how little these “defective” children were valued as humans. The children whom Schain and O’Brien described would now live in the community, often at home with their parents. Although these findings are unsettling, one can find some solace in the publication of a “negative result” 50 years ago in The Journal. That practice was uncommon in that era. In hindsight, a negative study such as this one did help today’s children with developmental disabilities. Investigators learned that other causes, beyond their understanding or even their imagination in 1964, might be the cause of neurologic disease in these past children.
F
Paul Graham Fisher, MD Departments of Neurology Pediatrics, and Human Biology Stanford University Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Palo Alto, California http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2014.03.028
Maternal Obesity, Gestational Weight Gain, and Offspring Adiposity: The Exploring Perinatal Outcomes among Children Study
515
ORIGINAL ARTICLES obesity to children who were followed for 2 to 18 years. Pediatrics 2006;118:e1644-9. 32. Nehring I, Lehmann S, von Kries R. Gestational weight gain in accordance to the IOM/NRC criteria and the risk for childhood overweight: a meta-analysis. Pediatr Obes 2013;8:218-24.
50 Years Ago in THE JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS Cerebrospinal Fluid and Blood Electrolytes in 62 Mentally Defective Infants and Children Schain RJ, O’Brien K. J Pediatr 1964;65:422-30
ifty years ago in The Journal, Schain reported a comparison of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) electrolytes among a cohort of children with an assortment of developmental disabilities. These children were hospitalized at the Beatrice State Home in Nebraska, known until 1945 as the Institution for Feeble Minded Youth. “CSF was obtained by lumbar puncture and blood by femoral puncture.” No mention is made of patient consent. In the end, electrolyte values did not vary compared with children in the general population, contrary to the prevailing hypothesis that the CSF reflected the milieu interne of the central nervous system. We can reflect on how differently we viewed children with developmental disorders just 50 years ago. Knowledge of genetics and metabolic disease was then very primitive. There were no DNA microarrays, whole genome sequencing, or analysis of CSF neurotransmitters, all tests that we might casually consider obtaining today in the clinic. More concerning is how little these “defective” children were valued as humans. The children whom Schain and O’Brien described would now live in the community, often at home with their parents. Although these findings are unsettling, one can find some solace in the publication of a “negative result” 50 years ago in The Journal. That practice was uncommon in that era. In hindsight, a negative study such as this one did help today’s children with developmental disabilities. Investigators learned that other causes, beyond their understanding or even their imagination in 1964, might be the cause of neurologic disease in these past children.
F
Paul Graham Fisher, MD Departments of Neurology Pediatrics, and Human Biology Stanford University Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Palo Alto, California http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2014.03.028
Maternal Obesity, Gestational Weight Gain, and Offspring Adiposity: The Exploring Perinatal Outcomes among Children Study
515
