KayCee
Joined: 22 Mar 2005
Posts: 3478
Location: Laura Trade Centre 13th Floor
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| Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject: Baby brain defect link to cot death |
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Baby brain defect link to cot death
RESEARCHERS say they have unlocked the mystery behind Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by identifying defects in babies' brains which may raise cot death risk.
A study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals an abnormality in the brain stem that impairs a baby's ability to regulate breathing.
SIDS is the leading cause of infant death in Australia. In 2003, 69 babies, aged less than one, died from the condition.
Scientists hope the information will lead to early detection and treatment for infants at risk, bolster recommendations to put babies to sleep on their backs and offer some answers to parents struggling to understand their unfathomable loss.
The eight-year study at Boston Children's Hospital compared autopsy data from 31 infants who died of SIDS and 10 who died suddenly from other causes.
Researchers focused on the brain stem, the stalk at the bottom of the brain that connects to the spinal cord and controls such functions as heart rhythm and breathing.
Babies, who died from SIDS, had abnormalities in nerve cells that make and use serotonin, a chemical best known for regulating mood but also critical for regulating breathing and blood pressure.
When babies sleep face-down or have their faces covered, they are thought to breathe carbon dioxide they have just breathed out. They take in less oxygen. Lead study author Dr Hannah Kinney said a normal baby would wake up, turn over and start breathing faster when carbon dioxide levels rose but, in babies who died from SIDS, defects in the serotonin system might impair those reflexes.
SIDS and Kids SA executive director Maxine Weber said: "I believe that in some ways it will be a fantastic answer for some parents who have had a child die from SIDS. There is huge research potential coming from this. The number of babies dying from SIDS has dropped since 1991 when more than 500 died each year in Australia. This has been due to our safe sleeping program."
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20685581-5006301,00.html |
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