Potential Cause of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome): Uncovered

SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, otherwise known as crib death or cot death is a syndrome identified as sudden death of an infant which is unexpected and unexplained even after a careful forensic autopsy or any detailed investigation and exploration of medical history.  As parents are encouraged to put their babies to sleep on their backs, a number of sudden infant deaths decreased to half for the past ten to twenty years.  Despite this helpful information towards prevention of sudden infant deaths, SIDS still remains the leading cause of death among infants between one month old to one year old.  It is rather unfortunate how little knowledge is conceptualized on this syndrome’s biological cause.  Concerns with regards to protecting sudden death among babies raised the concerns of researchers who discovered a potential biological cause of SIDS.  What used to be a mystery disease may actually have a concrete biological basis or cause for which documented abnormalities in the brainstem among babies who died from SIDS may pose a great causative role. 

As posted in the Journal of American Medical Association, a group of researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital neuropathologists studied the brain samples of infants who died of SIDS.  The researchers discovered documented abnormalities in serotonin levels of the lowest part of the brainstem otherwise known as medulla oblongata which controls breathing, blood pressure and body heat.  Serotonin is a chemical in our bodies and brain which transmits messages between nerve cells and this also plays a functional role in alertness and sleepiness. 

Dr. Hannah Kinney made a comparison between the brainstems of 41 babies who died of SIDS to brain stems of seven babies with various causes of death.  The researchers speculated a scientific guess that SIDS is related to low levels of oxygen.  35 out of the 41 babies who died of SIDS, expressed serotonin levels 26% lower as compared to those babies who did not die of SIDS. 

With the advent of this discovery, the researchers comprehend how SIDS may actually begin during early fetal development and that any maternal influence such as smoking and alcohol use may negatively affect brainstem development and serotonin levels.  Despite the advancement of knowledge regarding potential cause of unexplained and unexpected demise among babies, still more research is needed to further explain the exact cause and how this can be prevented.  There are hopes on developing a diagnostic test to identify infants who are at risk for SIDS.  Moreover, there are also aspirations on developing a research for possible drug or any kind of treatment indicated for brainstem serotonin system abnormalities to specifically protect infants from SIDS.  Although there is still a lot of knowledge to cultivate regarding this condition, it is indeed a big step how these researchers came up with a more concrete pathophysiology for the cause of SIDS for which in response could be used as basis for the development of cure in the near future.  This uncovered knowledge about SIDS may serve as an optimistic step not only to unravel an unknown cause of what used to be a mysterious disease but also to peak the curiosity of other researchers and scientists to develop more knowledge and information about this syndrome. 

REFERENCES:

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20060931195901data_trunc_sys.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_infant_death_syndrome

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/videos/news/serotonin_020310.html

http://www.pricedoc.com/blog/2010/02/04/answers-for-cause-of-sids-point-to-serotonin/

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