A Cure For SIDS?
AdventureDad | November 1(I posted this over on AdventureDad but thought a double-post might be appropriate considering the large interest in SIDS. I know many parents worry and grieve over SIDS and the latest research offer some hope of answers, and perhaps a cure, at some point in the future)
I’m a confident father of two children but there is one thing that scares me. The thought of SIDS. What scares me is the horrible thought of finding my daughter dead in the crib one morning and not knowing what went wrong. The medical community have been unable to find a cause for SIDS despite extensive research. But there might be light at the end of the tunnel according to a short article in todays New York Times. In the article “New Study Suggests Cause Of Sudden Infant Deaths” Benedict Carey writes that researchers have found deficits in a certain area of the brain and believe this might be an important clue in the search for a cure.
First a few facts regarding this horrible infant death. Researchers have so far found contributing factors to SIDS but no certain cause. A short summary of SIDS, “SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history”. The most important action towards decreasing the risk for SIDS is having children sleep on their back and without bulky blankets. This advice and increased information has drastically cut the risk of SIDS in the past ten years. Breastfeeding has been found to also decrease SIDS significantly. Safe co-sleeping can lower the risk although most parents practice co-sleeping in such a way that the risk instead increases. Factors known to increase the risks are smoking, drinking, and drugs during the pregnancy. Infants sleeping on their stomach on bulky blankets also increase the risk as does exposure to tobacco smoke after birth. A more complete list over ways to reduce SIDS can be found here.
The NYT article points out that researchers have found differences in the brain of infants who died of SIDS.
Infants who die in their sleep of no apparent cause have subtle deficits in an area of the brain that regulates breathing, heart rate and arousal,
They also believe that these differences might be genetic and will make finding a cure less difficult. It would be incredible if researchers could produce a test at birth which diagnosed children in the risk zone and gave them necessary medication or advice. Can you imagine what a victory that would be for the medical community and parents everywhere?!
The new study confirms that a far more important cause is defects in the way neurons process serotonin, a brain chemical associated with mood and arousal. Experts said the findings could help doctors develop a diagnostic test for SIDS risk, and possibly preventive treatments.“This is the most sophisticated, most impressive study so far looking at the serotonin system,” said Dr. Debra E. Weese-Mayer, director of pediatric respiratory medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, “and it’s going to drive genetic studies to find out what’s behind this.” Dr. Weese-Mayer wrote an editorial accompanying the journal article.
Before we had our son I was prepared for something horrible happening to him at some stage and I accepted that risk. But I never considered the mental aspects of SIDS. I’ve often thought of my son dying of SIDS. This may sound weird but it was especially worrying since things were going so well during his first year. I remember repeatedly going into his room to hear him breathe and getting all choked up just thinking of the possibility of him passing away in his sleep for no apparent reason. I pictured myself walking into his room, touching his cold head, and realizing he was dead. My fears are of course irrational, I’m aware that the risks for SIDS are extremely low but I never could shake off my concerns completely. The mental aspects of SIDS are especially difficult for parents, the feeling of not knowing who or what to blame can be heartbreaking. Many end up blaming themselves as the unanswered questions continue to pile up.
But evidence of a clear biological basis for SIDS deaths may comfort many parents who blame themselves and provide a reason to hope for more concrete benefits. “For parents like us, I think we are looking forward to the next step, to get to the point where we’d have a screening test and a cure,” said Robert Kossar, a father in New Jersey who, with his wife, Michelle, started the Ryan Wolfe Kossar Foundation in honor of their infant son, who died of SIDS in 2004.
I hope researchers will continue their research after these promising results and that we one day can find a cure and give parents closure and some answers to their worst nightmare.
Thanks for posting this. I’m like you, I worry while my baby boy is sleeping, and I constantly go in to check on him during his naps to make sure he’s okay (sometimes even accidentally waking him up). I was relieved when we made it past the one year milestone. I have one question about something you said:
“Safe co-sleeping can lower the risk although most parents practice co-sleeping in such a way that the risk instead increases.”
I’m curious upon what information you are basing the assertion that most parents practice co-sleeping improperly. Any stats or anything?
… and what constitutes safe co-sleeping versus unsafe co-sleeping?
we are a co-sleeping family and it’s worked very well for us. But I did not realize there’s proper and improper methods. (aside from being medicated and/or intoxicated)
Any articles on this subject you can link for us?
You hit the nail on the head for me. Mornings when my son sleeps in past his normal waking time cause me to worry. Extra long naps sometimes cause me to worry. Is he alive in there? Did SIDS strike? Like yourself everything is going very well for my family, and my son is a very easy baby, but still I worry.
Irrational or not they are fears, and you are not alone in having them.
I was terrified of SIDS with my oldest daughter. I would check on her constantly, but she was also born with a heart condition. Our youngest daughter was a month premature, but appeared healthy. Just as we were being released she stopped breathing and turned blue. I thank God everyday we were still at the hospital when she did this. She ended up staying in NICU for three weeks until they were confident she was going to continue breathing on her own. She was also born with a heart condition. She’s now 9 months old and hasn’t had another breathing episode since we left the hospital, but I still cannot stop worrying about it. Extra long naps and sleeping in freak me out.
This whole idea/problem has always scared the hell out of me…I just can NOT imagine having this happen.
- Jon
- Daddy Detective
- www.daddydetective.com
My father in law had a twin brother who died from SIDS when they were 3 months old. His death, even though it was over 50 years ago, still has a tremendous effect on all 6 siblings and even my husband. When our son was born, I would find my husband standing at his cribside just watching him breathe and putting his hand on his chest to feel the up and down. I know my biggest fear in life is losing either of my kids. If he wasn’t up doing the checking, I’m sure I would have been.
With both of my boys I have been terrified of SIDS. I used to stand over my oldest sons crib and feel his chest and the mornings he slept late I would wake up terrified to go into his room. My youngest is just turning 6 mnths old and has twice slept through a couple feedings it freaked me out. It is the biggest fear I think many parents have because you can’t really protect them from it. you can do what you can to prevent it and lessen your chances. It is the real life boogeyman of parent fears.
I was drawn to your blog here by a post through a link to a post through…you know how that goes.
Our family was on a Disneyland vacation last fall when our wee son passed away in his travel crib on October 25, 2006, two days short of being six months old. He was in good health and had no apparent causes of demise revealed upon autopsy so his death is assumed to be SIDS. It is, as many respondants here suggested, absolutely horrible to find your child a lifeless shell…though we loved the beautiful little shell of his body, when I discovered him that morning just a couple of hours after laying him down, he had already left us and the quiet, still shell was all that remained.
We have great hope that a cause, or perhaps more than one cause for SIDS will be identified so that the loss of these beautiful children can be stopped and families spared the wrenching grief of losing them. I have encountered nothing in my whole life as difficult as saying goodbye to our sweet baby son…I have endured some pretty terrible events and buried my own dear father, but nothing compares to losing our child. My husband and I have encountered that infamous “new kind of pain”, and we do hope that someday no parent will have to bear it.
For parents who are “paranoid” about their baby sleeping extra long, or wondering if it is normal to worry about your child dying, I say “good for you”, you are a caring parent. If you did not have such concerns about your babies I would think that you didn’t love them at all. Such concerns are not unwarranted, as babies do indeed die in their beds without a sound and with no warning. Thankfully it only happens once in every 2,500 babies…but when that one child is yours, it is one child too many. You are not being overly careful or unreasonably worried, you are loving your babies and that is a beautiful thing. They are fragile, these babies we cherish so dearly, so love them while you can and do not miss a single opportunity to revel in how wonderful they are.
Enough from me now on this, but thank you for drawing some attention to this issue.
Many blessings,
Lorrie Boettger, Shelton WA
In loving memory of Thomas Michael Boettger II
April 27, 2006 ~ October 25, 2006
http://www.TLCLimited.com/Thomas2
Did you know that the woman above, Lorrie - is currently being charged in the HOMOCIDE of her son? He did not have SIDS. He was overmedicted to death. Weird to know she’s lurked your blog.
Just so you know.. Yes she is also being prosecuted, however her “husband” is the main person who is being charged with homicide. They haven’t even made it to trial yet, and it doesn’t look like they are going to for about another year or so, so they are getting what they deserve.
Please think about the family’s of the people who are going through this, and don’t be rash and harsh in what you have to say. Yes what happened there was wrong there is no denying it. But, I don’t think anyone realizes that what was, or is being said is painful to the family’s of the people involved.