SIDS: Disease Killing Infants

SIDS: Disease Killing Infants

SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is the unexplained death or sudden death of an infant aged 1 to 12 months. This is also one of the leading causes of infant mortality in the world.  SIDS is frightening because it can strike without warning even in what seem as healthy babies.  Since most SIDS cases are associated with sleep, it is also called as ‘crib death’ because infants who die of it show no signs of any suffering. SIDS is also said to be connected with abnormalities in the portion of an infant’s brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep.

The cause of SIDS is unknown.  But many doctors and researchers believe that SIDS is caused by many factors which include problems with the baby’s ability to wake up or sleep arousal and the inability for the baby’s body to detect a build up of carbon dioxide in the blood.

Other factors may also increase the risk of SIDS which is likely to occur in boys than girls.  These risk factors may be any of the following:

•  Sleeping in the same bed as their parents or co-sleeping – Sleeping in the same bed with the parents may increase the risk because there are more soft surfaces which may impair breathing.

• Sleeping on the stomach – Infants placed on their stomachs or sides to be able to sleep may have more difficulty breathing.

• Soft bedding in the crib – Fluffy comforter can block the infant’s airway thus causing difficulty in breathing.

• Brain abnormalities – Infants born with these problems may have portion of their brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep not work properly. Read more: