This is probably the most ground breaking research ever published studying SIDS. Results are preliminary and as one researcher points out there have been other ’causes’ linked to SIDS but none of them are conclusive.
However, researchers in Seattle published a study in this month’s edition of the Journal of Early Human Development. The study group was small but significant and it will help propel SIDS research forward. Out of a small group of infants who died of SIDS, every single one had an abnormality with the right ear. Interestingly, the left ear in every infant was normal.
So far, doctors have not been able to pinpoint one definitive cause of SIDS. Awhile ago I wrote about a brain abnormality being linked to SIDS. Just last week I wrote about a study in which improperly fitted car seats were linked to SIDS. While there’s no definitive cause, researchers know the following things increase risk:
*African Americans are more likely to succumb to SIDS
*males are more likely than females
*smoking poses significant risks to baby dying of SIDS
*placing baby on its stomach to sleep rather than its back
What’s ground breaking about this study as opposed to others is that every single infant who had died had the abnormality. It’s not a matter of a statistically significant portion of infants who died. . .but every single one. If this is true on a large scale, it is possible that doctors can accurately predict which babies are at high risk for SIDS with a routine exam in the hospital and be proactive in treatment.
Some doctors are suggesting that perhaps the ear is somehow damaged during delivery and if so, it would heal by about six months. That’s about the same time the rate for SIDS drops off.
No doubt this will be the direction that SIDS research heads for the next several years. Already, several research groups are gathering data to see whether the anomaly is consistent with a larger group of infants.
I am certainly not a doctor or an expert in this area. However, I have often wondered if there are not a series of factors that contribute to SIDS. I look forward to the day when doctors will be able to pinpoint a specific list of factors and proactively decrease risk for babies who are otherwise identified as being high risk for SIDS.
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Car Seats Put Infants at Risk for SIDS?