Abnormal Brain Function May Be Tied to SIDS

An area of the brain that is responsible for breathing, arousal, and other key functions may be the missing link behind the cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The study, completed by Children's Hospital Boston and HarvardMedicalSchool, provides hope that a treatment for the devastating problem may one day be possible. It may also go a long way in explaining just why babies who are lying face down are more acceptable. When lying face down, the infant's reflexes and sense of a arousal are more challenged making breasting more difficult.

The limited study focused on the deaths of 41 infants who died in California and included data obtained from their autopsies. The abnormality was found on the lower part of the brainstem, the medulla oblongata, responsible for serotonin production. Serotonin acts as an arousal agent waking infants from their sleep when some physical condition is not correct. SIDS is caused by the inhalation of excess carbon dioxide when the baby is face down or when its face is covered.

SIDS can be used to describe any sudden and unexpected death of an infant who appears to be healthy. Those children who fall victim to SIDS must be between one-month and one year old. Because of its lack of definition SIDS has been hard to track. True SIDS cases can often be hard to distinguish from instances of child abuse and shaken baby syndrome. Studies have long tried to pinpoint the cause of SIDS, not because it is an excessively common problem but because the loss of life, particularly young life, is extremely emotionally devastating to everyone involved in the child's life.

In children with normal serotonin production, the agent wakes the children up and prompts them to move allowing them to inhale more oxygen. Children who do not produce enough serotonin, however, do not receive these stimuli and fail to wake up despite the danger eventually causing their death if the baby is deprived of oxygen for too long. More public is needed for the problem and campaigns are underway to inform the public of the risks associated with SIDS.

The study may aid others in creating a test for the defect and in creating a drug to combat the problem. Despite the findings of this study, much remains unknown about SIDS further studies will seek to confirm this studies findings and to look into other possible causes. These studies may also aim to test the effectiveness of future drugs at combating this rare, but serious problem.